The removal of modular systems in favour of a return to the traditional linear exam was presented as a way to give teachers more freedom to teach and to reduce the dumbing down of our exam system.

Well, that sounded fantastic! I am completely in favour of more freedom in the classroom and would hate for anyone to think that the achievements of our young people were not as worthy as those of the generations who have gone before them.

However…

The modular exam system, especially in my subject, maths, had huge positives and will, I believe, be mourned by a great number of teachers. 

The flexibility and freedom, which was sought, has actually been reduced. Nowadays there is no choice given to students doing A-level maths, they sit exams that include pure maths, some mechanics and some statistics. They cannot specialise, for example, in mechanics, should they want to move on to engineering, or statistics, should they want to move into finance. The discrete modules have also been completely written off for them.

We used to have classes where the students had a choice, but this freedom and flexibility has now been taken away from them. For teachers as well, the flexibility that was promised sounded fabulous. For example, no longer would we need to be restricted to having to stop teaching calculus almost as soon as we had started, due to the constraints of the AS specification.

However, the reality is that some students still only want to do an AS, especially those using maths to support a science, and so that dream of flexibility is broken.

‘Dumbing down’?

As for the ”dumbing down” of the exams, I will admit that the modular system had flaws. The ability to resit exams over and over again was not a great addition to the assessment system. However, sitting nine hours of exams for an A-level gave the opportunity to cover a lot of ground.

This has now been reduced by a third, thereby decreasing the amount of content that can be examined.

However, my biggest concern in this area is whether the linear system works for the most able, or simply for those who are just good at taking exams.

Exams are an acquired taste for most young people, and often they take quite a bit of getting used to. Maths is very much a confidence subject; the more confident a student, the better they will do. Exams are so stressful for young people that even the most able students will often freeze or panic in an exam hall, meaning that they do not show off their true ability. Despite all that schools do, mock exams can never fully replicate the pressure of the “real thing”.

The modular system gave the opportunity to become accustomed to exams by spreading this pressure. Sitting an exam in November or January of Year 10/12 and then getting the result of that before you sat your next one gave students the dose of reality they often needed, whether good or bad.

This isn’t all about “feeling sorry” for those at the top end who haven’t been able to prove themselves, though. What about the students for whom life is going to be dictated by whether they can get the C/4/5 they need for every job they apply for in the future? And what about the differences in confidence levels between boys and girls?

Life is now defined by one moment in time, with no comeback or ability to take on board lessons learned or to build up the faith in yourself that you “actually can do it” - while I am all for ensuring that the system is not made too easy, this seems like a hard lesson for some.

To quote an idiomatic expression, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. The system had been working for years. For me “fixing” it is what has broken it.

Anthony McAleese is an assistant head and maths teacher at a school in York

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