[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

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.

..yeah, I total agree with that Dezzy, it should be flexible and adapted to the strengths and weaknesses of the individual pupil...I think it would be too expensive maybe to do that though but it's annoying and frustrating that so much money is wasted in keep changing different things constantly when they could take a step toward doing that instead...

[arista]

Originally Posted by Omah

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

For Sure

[Vicky.]

Originally Posted by Jack_

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

Hmm..so coursework doesnt affect the grade anymore?

I would have aced every one of my exams if this happened..my coursework dragged my grades down because I couldnt be arsed with it. I got Bs in everything when my coursework was usually C and below..so I would think without the coursework bit I would have been A in most

Thats me though, I know loads panic under stress. Having it all hanging on a few exams is a bad idea in general IMO

[Omah]

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

Apart from exceptions such as practical experiments in science, there will be a shift towards results depending fully on exams taken at the end of two years. It will mean removing the 25% of marks in history, English literature and geography that are currently allowed for controlled assessments.

History will require a substantial study of British history - with an option for this to be the history of England, Wales, Scotland or Ireland. Pupils will have to write an in-depth study of a 25 to 50 year period within a range of eras stretching from 500AD to the present day.

There will be a less prominent world history section and pupils will be asked to study a theme such as changes in politics, religion or culture across the medieval, early modern and modern eras.

In English literature, responding to concerns that pupils were only reading chunks of books, the exam questions will be designed to ensure that pupils have read the full work.

The course content will include at least one play by Shakespeare, a selection of work by the Romantic poets, a 19th Century novel, a selection of poetry since 1850 and a 20th Century novel or drama.

For both English language and literature, digital texts are excluded.

Maths will promote the idea of developing independent problem-solving skills, rather than setting types of questions that can be rehearsed.

[Jack_]

My issue with this is exams at the end of two years, it doesn't make any practical sense whatsoever. Modular courses are much better because you learn the unit, you take the exam in it, that's it. Done. You don't have to then come back at the end of two years to a unit you learnt in the first quarter of the first year of the course, how can you expect students to remember that far back? Even with revision it's simply not practical. This is only tailored towards a very small minority of students that have an excellent memory and the resources available, and in the end will only alienate more students and lead to poorer results, which will then in turn become another issue dealt with by more changes to the education system, it's a vicious circle.

Also, I hate coursework personally and much prefer exams, but that doesn't mean every student is the same. These changes are actually sending the education system back in time and are not at all progressive, but then that's exactly what Gove wants, isn't it?

[RichardG]

What's all this about people only having to read chunks of a book? I did my English Literature exam in May and we had to read the entirety of the two books we studied for it. If we didn't the exam would've been hell.

[Kizzy]

I would say personally that removing coursework is a MASSIVE step backwards, and does not prepare for university as that is module based?

[Nedusa]

What I find slightly amusing is that the Govt now wants to focus on the education model as is currently used in Singapore, it wants to try and change the UK system (again) to bring it more into line with the Singapore system.

Funny thing is the Singapore system is actually the old UK system as used in Britain in the late sixties. This system was adopted by Singapore in 1971 and has been used very successfully there producing a high standard of academic excellence.

Can anybody see the sweet irony in this whole situation...!!!!

[Omah]

Originally Posted by Nedusa

What I find slightly amusing is that the Govt now wants to focus on the education model as is currently used in Singapore, it wants to try and change the UK system (again) to bring it more into line with the Singapore system.

Funny thing is the Singapore system is actually the old UK system as used in Britain in the late sixties. This system was adopted by Singapore in 1971 and has been used very successfully there producing a high standard of academic excellence.

Can anybody see the sweet irony in this whole situation...!!!!

Yes, it's just like sport - we invent the game, someone in the world will always beat us at it .....

The British educational system is now only middle-league - good, but not good enough .....

[Harry!]

Michael Gove is the education anti-Christ he is totally clueless about the education system. Coursework enables students who do not do well in exams to succeed in the classroom. The education system and exam structure is perfectly fine as it is.

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by Jack_

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

Agree with this, in my opinon little more to be said really, you say it all very well in few words.

[Kizzy]

The education reforms of the late 80's early 90's clearly haven't worked, the schools appear to be manipulating passmarks for funding. and focussing too hard on funneling kids through, focussing too intently on the exam questions and not the subject as a whole.
This helps nobody in the end, I would like to see a return of the 3 R's...

[Sam:)]

Is there any GSCE matherial archive? Im sitting my Junior Cert (I think its the irish equivelant) and want to see how to exams compare to the GCSE's

[Jessica.]

I don't see a problem with it, I think course work and all that is just the teachers and everyone holding your hand to guide you through it, exams are based on what you actually know.

fyi - the Irish equivalent of GCSE is 3 years long and the exams are at the end with 0 coursework in most subjects, it's not uncommon to do 11 or more subjects for it. I think it's a good system.

[Omah]

Head teachers' leader Russell Hobby said the plans for a "more rigorous exam to the existing GCSE contain merit" but warned against an over-hasty implementation. "We need to take time to get any new assessment system right."

Assessment is the major hurdle .....

Ofqual head Glenys Stacey says: "We want to see qualifications that are more stretching for the most able students, using assessments that really test knowledge, understanding and skills."

The LCD has to go .....

Education Minister Elizabeth Truss said: "We do need to start competing against those top performing countries in the world, because for too long we've pretended that students' results are getting better, when all that's been happening is the exams have been getting easier."

Exactly .....

[Jack_]

Exams getting easier LMAO

I hate that argument, it always seems to come from those who left education decades ago too

[Me. I Am Salman]

Originally Posted by Jack_

Exams getting easier LMAO

I hate that argument, it always seems to come from those who left education decades ago too

It's funny because it was 30000x easier for them. being able to flop education and not go to uni but still get a well paid job easily

[Kizzy]

I have a learning resource book from 1988 for English GCSE, you would be shocked to see how they differ from the ones now.... They seem to have been written for 8yr olds.

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by Jack_

Exams getting easier LMAO

I hate that argument, it always seems to come from those who left education decades ago too

That's an odd thing to say, anyone of any age can compare and contrast education over the years.
There is no getting away with it standards have fallen since the advent of GCSE.

[Omah]

Originally Posted by Salman!

It's funny because it was 30000x easier for them. being able to flop education and not go to uni but still get a well paid job easily

"30000x easier", eh?

Interesting statistical evaluation .....

Obviously, you can't substantiate it .....

[Niall]

Originally Posted by Jack_

My issue with this is exams at the end of two years, it doesn't make any practical sense whatsoever. Modular courses are much better because you learn the unit, you take the exam in it, that's it. Done. You don't have to then come back at the end of two years to a unit you learnt in the first quarter of the first year of the course, how can you expect students to remember that far back? Even with revision it's simply not practical. This is only tailored towards a very small minority of students that have an excellent memory and the resources available, and in the end will only alienate more students and lead to poorer results, which will then in turn become another issue dealt with by more changes to the education system, it's a vicious circle.

Also, I hate coursework personally and much prefer exams, but that doesn't mean every student is the same. These changes are actually sending the education system back in time and are not at all progressive, but then that's exactly what Gove wants, isn't it?

Sums up my entire opinion the topic actually.

But personally, I think coursework is (if done correctly, which it most often is) is a fantastic way to asses a student's knowledge on a topic. It forces you to apply everything you've learned in the subject, like specific skill sets and techniques, in new, and much more creative ways. I think that it can also give you more of a hands on understanding of a subject than the glorified memory tests that Gove champions. My English Language coursework this year for example forced me to go out and acquire my own data on any linguistic thing I thought was of note. History made me complete a research project into British law around crime and punishment. I learned far more about those subjects, and what they and the potential careers around them would require from the coursework than I ever did in the countless hours of essays I've written in preparation for the exam.

It just amazes me that these people simply do not look into how the successful education systems work. I must sound like a broken record with this now, but Finland has one exam that is mandatory for students in primary and secondary education. Only one. And they have the top education system on the planet. I think that says it all really, doesn't it?

[Me. I Am Salman]

How does Finland work?

[Roy Mars III]

[Kizzy]

One overiding factor here is that exams (for the majority anyway)
avoid the prospect of cheating?
You can cut and paste essays and ask clever mates/mums to 'help' with coursework?
That, I would say is a big argument for them I suppose.

[Niall]

Originally Posted by Salman!

How does Finland work?

They favour a non-judgemental system based on being all inclusive for all kids no matter what their level of ability. They just try and rigorously use as many resources as it takes to get the children to learn. All teachers are required to have PHDs too (which are paid for by the state) and schools are afforded an extreme amount of autonomy.

Like I said, they have only one mandatory exam and I believe that's treated as a very relaxed affair. It's a much better system, and it's been proven to work.