As of 2015, changes proposed by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will be implemented in a misguided reform the secondary education system, with the English Baccalaureate Certificate replacing the current GCSE exams in England. How would this overhaul  impact students and future job-seekers in Redbridge?


The first pupils to experience the new system will begin learning the courses in 2015, taking the exams in 2017. One of the most significant changes will be the replacement of the current system of examining each different topic in a course separately, which includes coursework, with a return to an old-fashioned three-hour final exam. Removing coursework from the assessment process will impair the way students retain knowledge and, more importantly, learn how to study. Coursework is a vital skill which, when taught gradually in secondary school, enables students to research, organise and prioritise information, and produce an intelligent and well thought out piece of work – an essential preparation for university. All this to make secondary education more difficult, as it is said to have become ‘too easy’.


Another of these changes, whose aim is to make exams more difficult, is awarding fewer top grades. This will make it harder to attain an A or A* at GCSE level. A further change will be to have one exam board for each subject.  The aim of this is to avoid different boards all competing to sell their course for the same subject. It has been suggested that exam boards have been marketing their products by making the exams easier and therefore more attractive to buy. Although this could cause problems, this is not the only possible reason for the improvement of GCSE results.


It seems that the overall consequence of the government’s intervention into this aspect will be that exams will become significantly harder and it will become more difficult to achieve top grades or even to pass. A major factor that has been considered in the decisions made is that, during the years in which GCSE examinations have been in place, pass rates have risen year by year (excluding this year). This leads some to speculate and conclude that exams are becoming easier each year, possibly because of competition between exam boards. However, is it not plausible that the real cause of this trend is that pupils are becoming brighter and more attentive?  Should we really react to this by creating more obstacles to stand in the way of intelligent and able young people?


The consequence of introducing an entirely new system will surely be that fewer students will achieve highly enough to gain the qualifications they desire. This is certainly not a viable solution to the current issue of unemployment in the UK, and this consequence, again, seems to have been overlooked. It seems clear that the elimination of GCSEs will directly cause a rise in unemployment rates as fewer pupils will be able to continue their education in order to set themselves up with a stable career opportunity. In Redbridge, 2012 GCSE students achieved outstanding results – the fifth highest in the country. And based on this, the government plans to condemn the system and create a horrendous disturbance in education. Councillor Alan Weinberg, Cabinet Member for Children's Services spoke about students in Redbridge, “The results year on year just get better and better and it's remarkable how our pupils continue to outperform the majority of their counterparts across the country”.


The progressive improvement of GCSE results in Redbridge should undoubtedly be celebrated. However, this is not the response we are currently seeing. Unemployment and under-qualification are already national issues. But returning to a worn-out system risks making things worse.