Britain could face a crisis in the education system.

I wouldve thought if there were shortages in teachers they would try to tempt them in with a higher salary

I have been keeping an eye on the news recently. There is an unheard part of the media, that no one talks about. It is hidden among other issues in the country.

Public sector workers are only getting 1% pay rise over the course of 5 years. Is this enough for the increasing demand of teachers in the country?

Schools are becoming "overcrowded" because of the places available, especially in London.

Teacher shortages, costing "millions in supply staff".

40% of teachers leave the profession after the first year and more than 50% of teachers "plan to quit in the next two years".

Teachers are being "reduced to tears" because of the heavy workload that they are expected to do.

Experts say that academies don't work, one school rated outstanding 2 years ago has been put into special measures by inspectors, and it's an academy. And Mr Cameron claims that academies turn around schools, why not this one?

Isn't this a recipe for disaster?

Education in this country has been in crisis for quite some time now. The issue with teachers being reduced to tears because of the heavy workload is because of the target-oriented, tick-box approach to education whereby any given teacher's star can rise or fall depending on what percentage of their pupils get a certain grade in their exams. Not to mention the lack of respect for teachers generally -- they're often characterised as being overpaid responsibility-abdicators because, as the logic of many a helicopter parent dictates, if a child isn't doing as well as they should, it must be the teacher's fault.

People can moan all they want about this but the reality is that most people are unwilling to change their attitudes and are very much adamant on having their cake and eating it too. As for the government, well, they're wrong on education. It's as simple as that.

I agree with you. What I also find hard to understand is that David Cameron did say that education was priority, yet still it doesn't seem like he's putting it first? It's not just how they are perceived from parents, it's also from the students because teachers aren't really that powerful in the classroom. Students can choose when they want to behave and when they don't. Being a secondary school student myself, I see the amount of disrespect they get five days a week 6 hours a day... it's sad. The government are definitely wrong on education, they can't seem to get it right. They don't listen to the professionals, which are the teachers because they are the ones standing in front of the classroom not them.

If they could just throw books at kids we wouldn't have this problem.

It's just politics -- he couldn't exactly get away with saying that education isn't a priority. The attitudes of parents is important to dealing with students' lack of respect because the parents usually have some power to punish children for bad behaviour while the teachers don't. It's a pretty unpleasant situation for teachers to be blamed by parents for their child's problems.

I see what you mean about them not listening to teachers -- they made changes to the A Level science curriculum with little input from teachers and went ahead and removed an assessed practical component, which is about a retrograde move as they come.

They've also made changes to GCSE's to. I am going to be taking the first new GCSE exam in Maths and English in 2017. I'm okay with Maths but English (AQA) is a bit boring with shakespeare. No one has actually been interested in the topic, we have to learn everything by heart... I don't know how I'm going to do it but I'm sure I'll get through it.

It is playing politics. Promising people lots of things but not fufilling them when your in government. I don't know why people always fall for it, politicians will never be honest imo.

I feel sorry for you. You're stuck in this new system while I just about missed it...

I think that would make it worse lol.

It's okay, if everyone did bullocks in the exam then the grade boundaries will be low. Plus a grade 9 is more rewarding than A* so companies might favour me more. However, it is going to be confusing to employers looking at my results. Seeing letter grading then number grading Hopefully the situation doesn't get to bad when I am still in education, I don't want to be left in the mess the government made...

I don't mean to belittle your efforts but, in general, your GCSE grades mean very little to employers beyond confirming that you are basically literate and numerate (they'll usually want a C or better in English, maths and science), especially if you then go on to university.

Most of your way through the education system, you'll be working on qualifications whose primary purpose is to get you to the next stage, so GCSEs are mainly important in getting into sixth form, A Levels are mainly important in getting you into university, an undergraduate degree is mainly important in getting you into postgraduate training or a job. And so on and so forth. :/

In most instances, you wouldn't waste space on your CV post-degree listing GCSE grades; you would just say something like '10 GCSEs at grades A* - B, including A*s/9s in English, mathematics and science.'

It worked when I was at school and that was not that long ago.

No I'm still going to work hard despite it's importance later in life. I want to get into a good sixth form and university's do look at your GCSE's sometimes if they are making tough decisions as well as looking at A-Levels.But I do agree with you. As long as you get a C in English or Maths (science doesn't matter) then you can get a job. I'm not aiming for that, I am better than that so I'm aiming for top grades. Thanks for the tips on the CV though, we are practicing our CV writing

No worries, although I meant it mainly in the sense of applying for a job, as you were worried that employers might not understand them.

Waiting for someone to blame this on the EU/immigrants/Muslims/Jews somehow.