New-look tougher GCSEs revealed
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22841266

Seems like a good idea ..... :idc:

No, it doesn't. GCSEs were stressful enough

Absolutely awful idea and for the record, none of Gove's plans could ever be described as 'good'.

Thank god I've done mine and atleast BTECs are still an option.

For the record, educational standards need improvement - reading a WHOLE play and a COMPLETE novel may be a step forward ..... :laugh2:

But we did read a whole play?

Do they only read one act or something nowadays? I only left school 6 years ago.

As for getting rid of coursework and continuous assessment is a big mistake. Not everyone copes well under exam conditions and won't show their true ability. At least the GCSE method actually tested you a variety of ways from timed tests to monitored progress.

Completely stupid and awful idea. You have to wonder when Gove is going to get it into his thick mind that for some Vocational education is the better option whilst not so for others. Not every teenager is able to cope with the stress of exams and constant revision, coursework and assessments can help take the weight off of their shoulders.

But leaving exams till the end of a two year course only benefits a small minority of students, it's going to exclude so many people and will, in the end, only make these changes look unsuccessful. Modular exams work much better and make much more practical sense, and of course not everyone can cope with the stress of exams and some prefer coursework.

:worship: Nail on the head

Exams on the whole are terrible, they're basically memory tests.

This is an excellent idea, as was the vocational skills idea.
I feel GCSEs have been simplified, if you read an old O level (higher GCSE equivalent) textbook you would be surprised at the difference in language and vocabulary used.

I would welcome a move back to secondary modern and grammar schools, and bring back the middle school system where you go to higher school at 13. I wouldn't bring back the 11+ , by 13 though there is a distinct difference between those who are academic and those who would benefit from a more vocational based education.

So basically turning GCSEs into Scottish Standard Grades; which when I was at school were being phased out in favour of Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2 exams which worked more like GCSEs. Bizarre.

^^^

Honestly struggled with GCSE's more than A levels or level 4 education. Glad I don't have to worry about this.

My dtr brought photocopies of 2 acts home, they spoke of the literary devices but they did not read the play.... they watched the film! :eek:

:laugh: That says it all.

My cousin is in year 10 so has started all their GCSE work and for a novel they are reading they read a chapter, then watch the equivalent of the movie. Back and forth, back and forth most likely in an attempt to hold the student's attention.

This has all sprung up from the recent debates about grammar, kids don't know enough, I also think that there is a really limited vocabulary spoken by high school kids. In top set English at 10 we had to learn 10 new words a week, we basically were forced to read a dictionary haha.

How often does the movie bear little or no resemblance of the play or novel - I am reminded of "The Comic Strip Presents..." The Strike (1988), in which Paul, a former miner, writes a hard-hitting left wing screenplay about the 1984 miners' strike. It is accepted by a Hollywood film company but gets turned into a distorted action film in which Arthur Scargill, portrayed by Al Pacino with Meryl Streep as his wife, performs motor-cycle stunts, rescues his daughter from a flooded mine and saves his pit from closure after an impassioned speech to parliament. The film cleans up at the Oscars but Paul is disillusioned - and a wanted man in his home village.

:laugh3:

Moronic ideas.

Focusing more on tests is incredibly ****ty, they should be moving away from exams not emphasising them.

I agree, I think exams are stupid. Having said that, I always cope really well in exam situations and get ace grades in them and I'm actually pretty rubbish at coursework; so it benefits me the way schools and universities operate. In principle, though, I think exams are stupid, they're glorified memory tests for the most part.

I can't believe it..........yet more changes to the Education system. why don't they stop messing around with the system, changing it every 2 or 3 years helps no one.

There should be no further changes for at least 5 years....!!!

Completely agree.. the constant messing around with it is not fair on the students or the parents.

Stupid idea... How do they expect students to memorize 15 or so 2 year courses? It just makes it unnecessarily hard and excludes loads of students.

GCSE's including the books studied for English haven't changed since 1988, options have though, we didn't have to choose PE or religious studies or a science. We got 5 options, 3 hours of maths and English a week and half a day at college.

They should make a more flexible system for it all really, give preference to the child's strengths. You'll never get an accurate depiction of what a student has learned with an exam if they don't test well and vice versa.