Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Gove to remove resit GCSEs from league tables

Michael Gove is to announce that in order to prevent students sitting GCSEs early, resit GCSEs will no longer count in future league tables. He suggests this is because early sittings 'damage education'. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24326087.

On one hand, Students will no longer have many years of intense exam pressure, and many will take their exams at the same stage of their educational development, rather than stopping with say Maths or English in Year 10.

On the other, talented students may not be able to pursue additional courses beyond the GCSE early, as schools may refuse to enter them for fear of lower than anticipated results negatively affecting the league tables.

What do you all think?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

username878045

Original post by DavidCrow

On the other, talented students from poorer backgrounds will no longer be able to pursue additional courses beyond the GCSE early, and students from poorer backgrounds will be disadvantaged as they will not be able to pay for initial sittings and further resits, which puts a lot of pressure on the final GCSE year.

No, talented students will still be able to do additional courses early. He isn't scrapping early exams, just saying that resits don't count in league tables. It just means that schools will have to be sure that pupils will get their best grade if they take exams early, which is what they ought to be doing anyway if they are fast-tracking pupils.

The system won't disadvantage students from poorer backgrounds any more than the current system does. If anything, it will encourage schools to cut down on re-taking, thus reducing the re-take bill for poorer students and their parents.

Reply 2

nulli tertius

Original post by DavidCrow

Michael Gove is to announce that in order to prevent students sitting GCSEs early, resit GCSEs will no longer count in future league tables. He suggests this is because early sittings 'damage education'. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24326087.

The changes may mean that schools will no longer want to pay out to have any students sit their exams early as the results will have no benefit whatsoever for the school.

On one hand, Students will no longer have many years of intense exam pressure, and everybody will take their exams at the same stage of their educational development, rather than stopping with say Maths or English in Year 10.

On the other, talented students from poorer backgrounds will no longer be able to pursue additional courses beyond the GCSE early, and students from poorer backgrounds will be disadvantaged as they will not be able to pay for initial sittings and further resits, which puts a lot of pressure on the final GCSE year.

What do you all think?

This has to be a good thing.

There has been a conflict of interest where schools have been entering pupils early in their own interests and not that of the candidate.

You can see this from the fact that heads are complaining about this being introduced in the middle of the school year. Why should that matter? If the decisions about exam entries have always been made in the interests of the pupils, schools will not be doing their exam entries differently merely because the way results data is handled. Gove hasn't suddenly made a swathe of teenagers less intelligent.

Reply 3

MissMyDawgs

This is referring to the school league table right? Therefore does this mean that despite this hurting the school as the retake won't count, the student won't be affected?