Every week, one of our reporters will take a look at one of their specialist topics and offer their unique insight. This week, Will Hazell reflects on an influential Conservative’s call for GCSEs and A levels to be scrapped - and weighs up the likelihood of his plan coming to fruition
GCSEs and A levels are such long-standing fixtures of the educational landscape that in some ways it’s difficult to imagine life without them.
GCSEs arrived on the scene in 1989, and A levels in 1951.
But have they had their day? That’s certainly what Robert Halfon, the chair of the House of Commons Education Select Committee, thinks. He believes that the qualifications provide a narrow, Gradgrindian education, whereby exams are king and schools have no choice but to teach to the test.
To seize the opportunities presented by what the Conservative MP loves to call the “fourth industrial revolution”, he thinks we should scrap exams at 16, and replace A levels with a new baccalaureate that recognises academic and technical skills, as well as personal development. His proposals have been backed by the NEU teaching union.
He is not the first to question the relevance of GCSEs today. When they were first introduced, many pupils left education at 16, so it made sense for them to have a set of qualifications with which to enter the world of work. Today, young people are legally required to stay in education or training until 18. Lord Baker, the Tory former education secretary who introduced GCSEs, has said they are, therefore, “redundant” and should be “quietly put to sleep”.
However, Mr Halfon’s plan is likely to remain a pipe dream.
We’ve been here before. A review of the 14-19 curriculum by Sir Mike Tomlinson in 2004 recommended a “unified framework of qualifications” to replace GCSEs and A levels with an overarching diploma. The proposal was ditched before the ink on the report was even dry.
Overhauling an exam system requires huge political will. In 2019 - when Brexit dominates - this is non-existent.
Indeed, the government has explicitly ruled out any further changes to qualifications for the rest of this Parliament.
While it’s not inconceivable that a future government could pick up Halfon’s ideas, it’s likely that these exams will be with us for some years to come.
Will Hazell is a reporter at Tes
