By Laura McCarthy.
Every year, we see a fifth of students failing their core GCSEs in Maths and English. Out of those resitting English last year, only 21% received a grade 4 (equivalent to a C). This is even less than the previous year, where 26% received a passing grade.
There are numerous reasons for this and I could write a whole dissertation on how a teacher shortage is certainly part of this; currently, the number of teachers leaving the profession is at its highest since 2010 and many schools are cycling through trainee teachers instead of securing those experienced in the craft long term. I know this first hand.
I know this because I’ve worked in education for years now. I am currently a self employed tutor for English and film and work in the careers department in one of our local further education colleges, but have accumulated a range of titles over time, having been a secondary school teacher of three different subjects (mostly English) and having had multiple leadership roles such as Literacy Lead. So when it comes to the English GCSE, you can bet I know what I’m talking about.
Both English GCSEs, Language and Literature, are now entirely exam based. The coursework elements have been incrementally tweezed out over time. As an English specialist, it strikes me as not just a flawed series of decisions, but actively omissive and oppressive. Exams simply don’t allow for the same level of insight, imagination, and depth as coursework does. Take the Literature GCSE: how can you express any truly meaningful analysis of Macbeth in 45 minutes (without even being allowed the text to reference when you do it?). It’s more of a test of memory and speed writing than anything else.
As for the English Language GCSE, all the joy of creativity has been sapped out of writing. By forcing students to write a descriptive story or compelling non-fiction piece in under an hour, the examiners have warped creative expression into some pointless but excruciating trial, with students feeling as though they’re Sisyphus pushing a boulder. It goes against the proper method of writing; you have no chance to redraft or revisit your work over a few days in order to make improvements, like you normally would and should when constructing a creative piece. Why are we making it so hard for students to be enthusiastic about crafting imaginative writing?
Worse than this, due to the intense limitations of such writing in the exams, some schools teach students to memorise a piece of writing and regurgitate it every time they complete a paper. This is not the fault of teachers either, as they’re trying their best to help students succeed when the whole nature of the exam is just plain wrong. But, unfortunately, that’s not promoting innovation or any real skill – you’ve just turned your pupils into parrots. You have to wonder in these cases: what are we actually teaching children?
It is not only unfair but also inaccurate to make a judgement on a candidate and their ability to analyse, interpret, or create based wholly on one high pressure day. Yes, one day. I know the English GCSEs are each made up of two exams but that doesn’t amount to two chances. If one of those goes wrong, it will bring down the overall grade. Say goodbye to that pass grade if you have a bad day.
Additionally, students still have to do the speaking and listening component but it no longer makes an impact on their final grade. In the eyes of students, this makes it a waste of time – especially when they have so many other assessments to revise for. In the eyes of teachers, it appears as though this crucial skill for life is being devalued. It also robs those who are skilled in this area (and maybe less so in a written format) of their chance to shine.
On top of this, very little effort is made to make texts interesting and relevant to this generation of children. Texts are selected by an exam board of adults, students having no choice in the matter. English Literature comprises of Shakespeare, Victorian novels, poetry, and a “modern” text. I derisively put “modern” text in quotation marks here because, while some may study the 2013 play Refugee Boy (adapted from Benjamin Zephaniah’s brilliant novel), the majority will study An Inspector Calls which was written in the 1940s. That’s 80 years ago. So although exam boards have made an attempt to include more recent texts, the options are still limited and, more than this, they stagnate. For example, students still study the same poems I did over a decade ago, including Ozymandias, Singh Song!, and Checkin Out Me History, just reorganised into different anthologies. They’re all great poems, of course, but the point stands that nothing’s changed, especially when we compare English to other subjects like Film Studies where the studied films are regularly updated.
And I’m not suggesting we get rid of every classic text altogether. There’s no doubt that classics are incredibly valuable, as well as incredibly important for building the cultural capital of young people. But just imagine you are a refugee, still getting a grasp of on the peculiarities of English; that you have a learning difficulty; or that you come to school everyday feeling hungry, struggling to focus as you’re thinking about your next meal. I’ve seen countless children like this, so many of them burdened with the worst life experiences you can imagine, and all before they turn eighteen. For these children, the balance is stacked against them when they have to compete against students from wealthier backgrounds with plentiful resources.
If students are unable to secure their English GCSE passing grade, they cant simply move on. They’re suspended in Limbo. The GCSE is an entry requirement for almost every job, apprenticeship, level 3 further education course, or university degree out there (although there are exceptions). This even includes many level 2 apprenticeships (qualifications at this level are equal to GCSE). If employers require this qualification as an indication that applicants have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of English, many are trapped in a stressful loop of resits into adulthood.
For many, a level 2 Functional Skills qualification in English should be a suitable alternative in some respects (though I still have my criticisms), as it examines how pupils use language in real life and work place scenarios. This should be good enough for employers and should be offered to year 10 students as an option, but it is not given the same prestige of the GCSE in Language or Literature, even though all three are level 2 qualifications.
Recently, however, discussions have opened up about the relevancy of the Maths and English GCSEs. Just this week, I saw it being debated on a morning show. Perhaps this signals the start of bigger changes to how we examine young people in the UK. For the sake of our most vulnerable, I certainly hope we see efforts to make testing more inclusive.
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