If you could change anything about the UK education system, what would you change?
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inb4 someone says "b b b but everyone else speaks English!"
My reply: and? your point?
I think the point that’s trying to be made is that they can be useless for what you’re trying to do. For example im in my first year of university studying Nursing. My A levels were biology, English lit, sociology and history and none of them were useful. They were all useless, biology studied then wasn’t even particularly applicable.
inb4 someone says "b b b but everyone else speaks English!"
My reply: and? your point?
We had french lessons once a week from about year 3 (7/8 years old)
My first language lessons were at Year 6. But, I meaneven younger than 7/8. My Auntie in Germany teaches 3 and 4 years olds English and they have 2-3 English lessons a week/
I didn't care about them because I knew they weren't important and no one tried to push me to do them. I didn't do the 11+ so I don't know but I imagine that would be more stressful as it does matter.
People have chosen to talk about England but you could talk about Scotland or northern Ireland as well if you wanted. The systems share many parallels so many of the points made here would apply to Scotland and northern Ireland as well.
inb4 someone says "b b b but everyone else speaks English!"
My reply: and? your point?
I agree but I see people's point in that languages aren't as important for children who have English as their first language. I do think they should still learn though.
I have to disagree to be honest. It is a bit unfair in your situation but a line has to be drawn somewhere. Most people will find themselves somewhere in the middle of a grade with the minority being at the edges, that is why you do so many exams so that it's out of a large number of marks so you're less likely to be on the edges. But yeah the line has to be drawn somewhere and the universities can't let just anyone in.
Talking about doing 6th form subjects
firstly the 11+, literally how can one determine academic proffision when one is 11 years old, it literally makes no sense to me,
also due to this division, these kids who did well in the 11+ (actually most due to tutors, so in reality its how much your parents can afford on tutors rather than how good you are academically) get put into grammar schools.
And grammar schools are great, but that also means most good teachers want to go there cause there is better pay, same with grammar compared to unis : the better teachers move up the ladder, so you get left with the supposed "good" pupils with good teachers, but it also means that people in comprehensive schools dont get as many good teachers, as many resources and then since they have been labbeled as average, many just then believe their capabilities arent any more, so so many people dont apply to good unis where they might actually have a great time and so many dont get the oppotunities or enviroment to succeed, And vice versa, people who dont naturally enjoy academics get stuck in grammar school and spend the 6 years feeling as if they are **** and "so bad" .All because what? some test we did when we were year 11, i swear i didnt know anything about anything back then,
i think the swedish education system is a lot better frankly
also this isnt some bitter rant from someone in a comprehensive, I got full marks in the 11+ and go to a grammar school, I still think the system is ridiculous
primary school should focus on ‘discovery learning’- for example, going outside and allowing children to ask questions, finding out the answers together- for everything outside of maths and english
a foreign language (maybe a school would choose one specifically?) should be taught in primary schools the same way that english is taught abroad in primary schools, from around the age of 7-9.
creative arts should be given more emphasis throughout all primary school years, and be focused on expression and experimentation, rather than having to colour in etc.
anti-bullying in primary schools should be taken more seriously
a levels and btecs should almost be blended together to create a more cohesive qualification. not like regular a level coursework, btecs usually include presentations and longer essays being set and completed without help, similar to a degree, but obviously a lower difficulty level. 50% coursework and 50% exam for most subjects would work, the only exception could be maths.
there should be an extra mandatory gcse called ‘cultural perspectives’ or something which would almost be a blend of RS, sociology, history, politics and anthropology. basically, so that people grow up being more able to understand one another
gap years should be more encouraged, application to university should be after receipt of grades
detention shouldn’t be used as a means of treating misbehaviour, it’s ineffective. visits with a school counsellor, anger management, mindfulness/meditation and other targeted help would be more beneficial
lunch breaks should be an hour long, any other breaks could be shorter to make up for this
wider reading should be encouraged in secondary school from early on
a second language should be mandatory to study until year 11, although not a mandatory gcse- similar to with PE
primary school should focus on ‘discovery learning’- for example, going outside and allowing children to ask questions, finding out the answers together- for everything outside of maths and english
a foreign language (maybe a school would choose one specifically?) should be taught in primary schools the same way that english is taught abroad in primary schools, from around the age of 7-9.
creative arts should be given more emphasis throughout all primary school years, and be focused on expression and experimentation, rather than having to colour in etc.
anti-bullying in primary schools should be taken more seriously
a levels and btecs should almost be blended together to create a more cohesive qualification. not like regular a level coursework, btecs usually include presentations and longer essays being set and completed without help, similar to a degree, but obviously a lower difficulty level. 50% coursework and 50% exam for most subjects would work, the only exception could be maths.
there should be an extra mandatory gcse called ‘cultural perspectives’ or something which would almost be a blend of RS, sociology, history, politics and anthropology. basically, so that people grow up being more able to understand one another
gap years should be more encouraged, application to university should be after receipt of grades
detention shouldn’t be used as a means of treating misbehaviour, it’s ineffective. visits with a school counsellor, anger management, mindfulness/meditation and other targeted help would be more beneficial
lunch breaks should be an hour long, any other breaks could be shorter to make up for this
wider reading should be encouraged in secondary school from early on
a second language should be mandatory to study until year 11, although not a mandatory gcse- similar to with PE
I think i agree with you on all these things apart from the first one really? why not before 9? it would mean they would only be subjected to their home religion in the fundamental years of growing up, and it would legitimise diversity, i dont agree with christian state schools , i went to one and i remember feeling kinda excluded cause my parents were athiest, also the way i remember thinking being told of certain bible things such as the lion pit story as fact. so i disagree with a prodominantly one religion school, but not that religion shouldnt be taught , kinda would like to hear how you disagree
such as taxes , housing , finance , laws , human right etc
More arts related areas could be Shadowing an architect or person in Marketing etc.
From my own experience, it seems only really aspiring medics get pushed into acquiring work experience prior to A level. I personally got a shock when i had to decide on my A level subjects (which directly relates to my future career prospects) from a such young age. I feel more work experience at an earlier age would have made the decision easier. Ended up studying Chemistry and while I enjoy it, it's possible I could have gone into Maths, Physics or Engineering if I had more work experience while still studying in School.
School is such a bubble and it's a shock to the system when you have to think about what you want to do in the world of work when you have no experience in it.
I definitely think religion should be taught! From my experience and most people I know, the only religion you’re taught about before the age of around 9 is Christianity, and the issue is that at the age of 5, for example, a child simply can’t be expected to understand the abstract reasoning around contemplating religion, so 9 times out of 10 it’s taught as objective fact. I’m actually a Christian, so I definitely have nothing against religion, it’s just that I think telling children one way or the other about God and faith can’t be an unbiased endeavour until they’re old enough to understand it on a deeper level. An example from my own experience is that I was taught of both Easter and Christmas as objectively factual events, and was only told later in my primary school life that many people don’t believe in these events or celebrate them, which I found really difficult to accept at first because of my previous teaching, and I’d already accepted my Christian teaching as truth. Basically, I don’t really think you can teach very young children about any faith without effectively almost brainwashing them. Depending on the child, tbh, you could possibly teach them about faith etc from the age of 7, but 9 allows for everyone to catch up in the case of regular state primary schooling where individual needs can’t be met on a one-to-one basis. IMO, exploration of faith in school should be done from an educational perspective, not preaching. Maybe asking children to write story-based answered to questions like ‘where do you think the world came from?’ and etc eventually leading up to education about world religions and this would also lead well into an exploration of science, which properly began for me in year 4, so around age 8/9, so I think it’d work
true. decapitate those not willing to learn.
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The modern foreign language speaking assessment (at GCSE and A-level) would be conducted by an individual that was not a member of the school's staff. This person would be totally unfamiliar to the students and would completely understand the language (e.g. French). The conversation would still be recorded and externally marked, but just not done with the students' current teacher, which would reduce the chance of cheating immensely. This is because the individual would give out the tasks without the pupils sitting them being able to know what will come up. Some excellent examples of this include a few threads that I found on TSR: (https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5333158) and (https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5247708). I am sure there are other examples; it is just too easy to cheat for teachers that want to gain better results.
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Make a modern/ancient foreign language and a humanity (i.e. history or geography) compulsory at GCSE level (but not to pass like English language or mathematics). Also, as another commenter rightfully said, computer science may be another good compulsory subject as we are living in a digital age.
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All awarding bodies should be able to award marks for the quality of written communication (SPaG) in science exams (currently, AQA don't).
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I'm not too fond of the lack of any global prescribed texts in English literature at GCSE. The part of Ofqual's requirements that mandate the awarding bodies have some of their specifications include a British novel or play since 1914 is just ridiculous for me. It looks like a tenuous effort to try and squeeze as much British literature as possible. There's already a Shakespeare play, a 19th-century British novel, and a bloody anthology of at least fifteen British poems! To broaden the horizons of students studying this subject by exposing them to a variety of different cultural perspectives, there could be some literature studied from other parts of the world. Maybe? Please? Whether that be American literature, or literature that is translated, anything helps.
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For GCSE and A-level mathematics, some marks, for correct solutions to questions only, should be given towards style, clarity and representation like in the AEA exams. I thought this was a good idea that encouraged students to organise their work and logical thought processes on the paper, which would be rewarded appropriately. Similarly, marks for handwriting should also be awarded for essay-based subjects (although this might be difficult for those who type with a laptop or use braille, so this may not be ideal).
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At A-level, the sciences should have a practical endorsement that is worth something towards the final grade (and something reasonable too, in which failure would prevent the student from being able to reach the top grade). This should also be done differently too. Students should practise certain experiments in the lab, and at a certain date, an external individual (not a member of staff) would observe the student and mark them out of half of the available marks. Obviously, this observation would be recorded by a camera (like in the English speaking endorsements) and sent off to be marked by another marker because the marks given may be slightly subjective, and then that marker could give however many of the remaining marks they would see fit for the final score of that component (e.g. the component is out of 50 marks, with the on-site marker in the lab giving 15/25 for the first half, and the other marker viewing the recording could give 18/25, making for a score of 33/50.)
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If there is an A-level further maths, why can't there be any A-level further sciences? The standard natural sciences (i.e. biology, chemistry, physics) could have additional, more rigorous courses with far more demanding content than the normal A-level for those who excel at a particular science (I'm talking about the kind of students that greatly exceeded the grade 9 threshold for the separate sciences this year). It would be interesting to see what they could provide. The only problem I see with this is that there might be dilemmas over subject combinations.
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Make the EPQ compulsory at A-level. Universities like it when students can produce good essays with quality research and evaluation - all of these skills are fostered by the EPQ. It would be great to have this for A-level.
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Introduce SPaG marks at A-level to the arts and humanities subjects. I do not understand why they are removed. Just because someone has made it to A-level, does not mean that the quality of their written communication should not be scrutinised. History, geography, all English A-level courses, economics, the ****ing lot, should have some element of SPaG in there. Although they may be less emphasised in some subjects (e.g. English language: 20% of the marks at GCSE being reduced to 10% at A-level for SPaG).
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The 9-1 grading system should be brought in for A-level. I seriously do not see why we need two different grading scales. The 9-1 grading scale is excellent because it is better at differentiating students at the top end, which is what A-level requires really.
Things I am unsure about:
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Having one, single, unified awarding body that distributes papers for all subjects and standardises everything. This would mean that the grading system could be abolished and replaced with a score of only raw marks being shown (as each student would have been marked out of the same number of marks for each subject). This would make it much easier to differentiate students. However, broad subjects like history and English literature (with all of its different prescribed texts) might be poorly taught with one awarding body because the curriculum may be too narrow.
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Making an AS qualification in a contrasting subject compulsory during sixth form. For example, a student taking mathematics, chemistry and biology at A-level would have to take history or geography as an AS-level. This would give more breadth to students' studies at sixth form. However, it may result in ridiculous workloads and anger from students clearly not wanting to study the arts and humanities or STEM subjects.
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Making the grade 5 the passing grade for the GCSEs in lieu of the grade 4, ending this divide between a 'strong' an 'standard' pass. (Yes, I'm fully aware that all grades that aren't a U are actually passing grades, but anything below a 4 is truly considered useless.)
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If coursework is still carried out in A-level subjects, send it to a different school for it to be marked and moderated. This will reduce the chance of teacher bias because other schools will mark critically and fairly as they are against each other in the league tables. If an awarding body catches a school being a bit draconian with the mark-scheme, then they will be penalised heavily (or even stripped the right to assess coursework).
In this digital age, I find it amazing how little some people actually know about computing in general. In order to survive in the future, I feel like this should be necessary.
Wouldn't ICT be more suited more towards that point? I do GCSE Computer Science and I feel the stuff taught in it isn't important enough for it to be put on a mandatory level like Maths (You may think I could be completely wrong so feel free to correct me) But I do agree some people know way too little about computing and as the future is moving towards it then it should be mandatory to do a computer orientated qualification such as ICT
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