Back to the future - 'O' Levels

I know I should welcome the return to a more demanding curriculum and exam, and away from the anxiety inducing GCSE where fear of a mistake replaces knowledge and deep understanding of the subject.

If it includes grading by population distribution again ( which makes garde inflation almost impossible ) then I'll be supportive. ( Bleeding heart lefties note that its this measure, more than any other, that will restore merit based progression and maybe social mobility - though I've argued, and others are starting to also, that an efficient education system combined with fair opportunities may just sort the gene pool and make mobility less not more ).

So why doesn't my heart jump for joy ? The answer is I'm not sure the second half of the equation has been addressed. What about the CSE's ? [ For those too young they were the certificate of secondary education - a 1 in which was the equivalent of - was it a C at O level ? The point being that CSE's weren't respected. To get around this problem 'O' Levels and CSE's were combined, and the ability for everyone to pass built in - no more results distribution ].

Mr Gove will need to address this.

My suggestion would be different exams but single certificates and qualifications. I think some of this is supposed to be part of GCSE's right now - but the CSE tail wagged the O level dog too much and the cause of inclusion and peoples feelings trumped acheievemtn all too much.

Before the educationalist lobby try to lay into me for this, let me give an example. Looking around our local secondary school for one of my children's school choices I came into the English Literature department ( a subject I found very tough going at school - as if your a regular reader you'll have guessed ). They were very proud of two pupils who last year had got 100% in their English Literature exams ! 100% ! Now English literature isn't my subject, but even I knew that was dodgy. The arts 6th formers were always complaining that those of us in the sciences had things easy as things were much more right or wrong than in their subject. 60% for an essay was good, 70% excellent, 100% impossible.


So I asked the question of the teacher in that class room. She didn't even try to justify the outcome but just pointed to the marked paper that sat in the middle of the table.


At that point I nknew GCSE English Literature was debased, and frankly something of a joke.

I spent a little time comparing O level maths to GCSE maths - which you can do if you look at the International GCSE and International O level and reading curriculum and sample papers - see here. My superficial view was that the O level developed deeper understanding, though I can see that it would be less 'accessible' for those for whom maths was not a gift.

So in short I support the idea of going back to the rigour of O levels, but if Mr Gove wants me to love it then it must be handled carefully and the question that GCSE's were invented to answer ( ie Who cares about CSEs?) needs to remain answered.

The value of GCSEs to be abolished

Apparently having learnt nothing at all from the modular A level fiasco the educational establishment is going for modular GCSE which you will retake modules of until you pass.

Hence all with have prizes and GCSE's will become worthless, much as A levels have started to do.

This suits the educational establishment which hates objective measures of its performance and would rather carry out its mission to create socialism by using its own judgement for which pupils should be allowed to go forward in life. It will be so much easier for them to carry out their vindictive class war against the middle classes with all objective evidence removed.

Labour implicitly admits education failure over exams

Ed Balls (he originally thought up the lets pretend to make the Bank of England independent wheeze ) is to repeat the trick by making a new independent body to oversee exams. [ We now know that really the bank of England was neutered, Gordon's appointees put on the board and when Alistair Darling finally said jump the governor said how high ? ]

The reports on this are full of the usual misdirection and straight lies about how exam standards haven't been falling, armed with the Labour smear on their critics that they are doing down "children,schools and parents".

But the brutal truth is that after 10 years the evidence that this is just untrue is too crushing even for the Labour spin doctors and hangers on to continue to push on the public.

So what does Ed Balls do - he identifies where the mistrust is - New Labour - and tries to pretend he's moved the body out of their control. But you can be sure that Labour favoured people, donors and party members will be on the board and will do their master bidding.

If this move is not to be seen as anything else than a repeat of the Bank of England independence dishonesty then why not have multiple boards. You know like they used to ?

Why not let schools and even pupils chose which exams to sit and Universities decide how they want to weight them.

A free market in education - with opportunity and fairness for all ....

... of course nothing like that could be further from the aims of the servants of the dead and vengeful hand of socialism.

Education, education, education ? Spin, spin spin. Lies, lies lies !

PS Man in a Shed is really going to have to get lots more work done for the rest of the week, so posting will be light. But I'll be back for Monday !

Update: Ed Balls on R4's Today this morning repeating the same matra. I wonder if his boss will like how much claim for the credit for the Bank of England misdirection move from 1997 ? He also just point blank refused to acknowledge the University of Durham survey that says A levels grades have inflated by one grade level in the last 10 years and 2 in the last 20.

Remember what these confidence tricksters came into power saying ? They have instead effectively inflated qualification grades as part of a great con on the public. Cheating children - odd that that didn't make its way into Gordon's conference speech.

Right - work today, not blogging. Comment moderation is back on for a bit as a spammer is trying to add links in comments to old posts.

Update: See John Redwood's take on this also - on much the same lines.

The return of the 'O'-Level ?

The Daily Mail, (Lara Clark), reports that "State schools could be given the go-ahead to ditch GCSEs in favour of a tougher exam modelled on, and perhaps even named after, O-levels."

So perhaps there is hope after all.

The GCSE experiment - that I'm afraid must be blamed on John Major's government - with its blindingly obvious fatal reliance on course work may have had its day.

However, don't rule out NuLabour meddling and spin.

Its time to realise that some of the spin about competing with India and China is actually true. We can't just hand prizes out to all and expect to still be competitive in the world.

Lets just hope.

Education is being replaced by propoganda by the Left in the UK

I am increasing having the conversation with my wife about if we dare to leave our children in the state sector. (This is a desperate conversation as our income won't cover school fees and some changes would be needed to get the money in.)

My major concern in the way Science is no longer actual taught in the State sector. A good friend of ours is a science teacher and she has described the new science qualifications as almost science free.

Now a report from Civitas seems to be saying the same thing.

The left have no shame and effectively are trying to use education for political propaganda. When debates were based on knowledge and facts they lost - so they are trying to remove those obstacles - Stalin would be proud of them.

PS If you doubt what is happening to UK science nip over to the BBC's bitsize revision site and see what actually passes for Chemistry these days ! ( A large amount seems to be geological stamp collecting to me.)