Exam board OCR says a new short-course maths GCSE should be introduced, warning that the current GCSE resit policy is in need of “urgent reform”.
In a new report, Cambridge University Press and Assessment, which runs OCR, says a short-course maths qualification could provide a more focused approach to “maths fundamentals” than the current GCSE.
OCR recommends that short-course GCSE maths would be taken at the end of Year 10, and would form the first half of the full GCSE award but also be a qualification in its own right.
Short-course maths GCSE proposal
Spreading assessment over two years would help students of all abilities, OCR says, and give them a better chance to master maths fundamentals. The short course should enable progression to post-16 routes, the exam board adds.
It should focus on the core competencies underpinning more abstract concepts in maths that are needed for the workplace and future study, OCR says. The exam board adds that all students should continue to study maths until 16.
The report warns that the number of students currently having to resit GCSE maths is “too high”.
OCR calls for “urgent reform” of the resit policy, which requires students to continue retaking GCSE maths and English until they achieve a grade 4.
Jill Duffy, chief executive of OCR, said: “The way the country delivers maths education is leaving too many students behind for preventable reasons.
“We need to focus on what is really needed from the GCSE both for students and employers.
“This means providing a clear assurance that a student has the fundamental skills for work and life. A short-course maths GCSE can achieve this without reducing the challenge for those who excel in the subject.”
Leaders across the sector have repeatedly called for the resit policy to be scrapped. Currently around a third of students do not get the pass they need first time around and they can end up in a cycle of resits.
Only 17 per cent of students aged 17 or over sitting GCSE maths last year achieved a grade 4 or above.
OCR also says the assessment requirement for maths GCSE should be reduced and some of the curriculum content pared back.
The exam board, in addition, recommends introducing a formative key stage 3 assessment that would help to encourage a more systematic approach to KS3 teaching and prepare students to make progress at KS4.
Finally, the exam board recommends widening teachers’ access to maths hubs to enable them to give the best support to students through KS3 and KS4 maths.
Last year OCR published the findings of a review of the entire 11-16 curriculum, chaired by former education secretary Charles Clarke. This recommended a substantial overhaul of the amount of GCSE content and exams.
This review warned that the curriculum was “overloaded”, and suggested introducing maths and English qualifications to be taken at age 14 to provide a more structured focus to KS3.
OCR submitted many of these proposals to the government’s review of curriculum and assessment, which is expected to lay out its interim recommendations soon. The full recommendations will be published later in the year.
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