Consultation Response: GCSE and A-Level Reform (Phase 3)
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Transcript of Consultation Response: GCSE and A-Level Reform (Phase 3)
ConsultGov
CONSULTATION
RESPONSE
GCSE & A-Level Reform
Phase 3
AUGUST 2015
Contents
Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Methodology / Outline of the Day ......................................................................................................... 4
Findings ......................................................................................................................................................... 6
GCSE Economics ..................................................................................................................................... 6
GCSE Business ......................................................................................................................................... 6
GCSE Design and Technology ............................................................................................................. 7
GCSE Psychology ................................................................................................................................... 8
A-Level Philosophy ................................................................................................................................. 9
GCSE Sociology ................................................................................................................................... 10
Why Engage? ............................................................................................................................................ 11
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 14
Abstract
This is a student response to the Department for Education’s consultation on reformed GCSE and A-Level subject content for teaching from 2017. An event was held at the DfE headquarters in London on 29th July 2015 to gather the views of students. This was supported by Voting Counts UK, the World Youth Organization and Mock Recruit. The event was facilitated by ConsultGov and hosted by the Department for Education.
Subjects
GCSE Design and Technology
GCSE Business
GCSE Economics
GCSE Sociology
GCSE Psychology
A Level Philosophy
Subjects
The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the individual attendees and do not necessarily reflect the position of the facilitators, ConsultGov, Voting Counts UK, the World Youth Organization, Mock Recruit or the Department for Education.
Executive Summary
Since our last event in October last
year, it will seem like little has changed
within such a short space of time.
However, during that period between
the start of a new term last year,
students will have completed exams,
finished their studies at school or
college and will be looking to start the
next stage of their lives. With the
current course of curriculum reforms to
be completed by 2017, many of the
subjects have now already gone
through consultation or are now ready
for implementation.
Unlike our last event also, a new
government has been elected and that
too will naturally bring many changes
with it in the course of this Parliament.
Schools Minister at the Department for
Education (DfE) Nick Gibb has written
on the changes proposed for this set of
subject content consultation in wanting
to ensure they are ‘rigorous and more
knowledge based and to match the
qualifications used in the best
education systems in the world.’ While
the primary target audience for this
consultation are academics and
experts who can advise on the quality
of the subject content, the views of
students themselves, particularly if
they had studied any of the consulted
subjects, are equally as invaluable and
can highlight any strong issues that
could be improved for their peers in
the future.
While the content will meet praise and
criticism from all sides, as it has
already been expressed in equal
measure by the students here, it was a
tremendous insight into the many
ideas of young people who attended
this latest ConsultGov event in July.
There is much food for thought when
students posed their concerns around
the theme of engagement on the
process for consultation, which
features as a new section here. It is a
privilege again to outline the feedback
from the day in this report.
Jack Welch
*Please note a background to these
reforms is not provided in this report,
as the context of this consultation
remains the same as previously.
Please see the October 2014 report for
this information.
Methodology / Outline of
the Day
The consultation brought together
approximately 30 students across
various parts of England and attracted
interest from those currently taking
GCSE or A Levels, as well as those
who have progressed into Higher
Education or elsewhere. During the
course of this event, the agenda was
broken into a number of related
discussions and activities which
allowed students to understand the
purpose behind the reforms and
creating effective engagement.
Both roundtables followed a consistent
format of a facilitator supporting three
groups of students to discuss the
allocated subject proposals. Ideas
were transcribed on the flipchart paper
provided and feedback, led by
members from each group, was
recorded for the purpose of capturing
those responses in this report. Rather
than focus on all 8 GCSE and the 5 A
Level consultations, groups focused
their attention on the most likely
studied choices available which were:
GCSE Design and Technology
GCSE Business
GCSE Economics
GCSE Sociology
GCSE Psychology
A Level Philosophy
Throughout the group sessions,
students were asked to bear in mind:
Whether there is a suitable level
of challenge.
Whether the content reflects
what students need to know in
order to progress onto further
academic/vocational study.
Although there is an imbalance in
favour of GCSE specifications, some
of the subjects in this consultation
were not studied by any of the
students present at this event and
would have proved counterproductive
to give feedback without any
experience. A role play feature
explored scenarios across the Equality
Act 2010 (encompassing Disability,
Gender Reassignment, Pregnancy &
Maternity, Race, Religion or Belief,
Sex (Male/Female), Sexual
Orientation) and how these factors
could influence situations based upon
the identified groups.
Unlike the previous consultation on
these reforms, there was greater
consideration on individual ideas
rather than formal debates on
opposing sides to identify particular
issues.
Findings
As detailed in the outline of the event,
there were two roundtable sessions
with three groups scrutinising one of
the chosen subjects. Their thoughts,
where some of the discussion was
more extensive on some compared to
others, are summarised here
GCSE Economics
For this subject, students
acknowledged the breadth of topics in
which students would be undertaking
in the course of their studies. There is
a concern in relation to ‘sustainable’
trends to the concepts was not given
sufficient priority and in light of the
significant challenges still ongoing at
home and abroad, an understanding of
the wider consequences of economic
factors deserve greater weight. This
was similarly expressed for ‘macro and
micro’ economics and implications in
this regard. Equally, it was seen that
while most could agree that the role of
government was important, it should
not be the only priority in relation to
what is concentrated on in classes and
with a broader remit than just the UK
government to draw comparisons.
Students who excel in their work
should also be provided with further
insight across different topic areas,
while those that struggle are given
encouragement to understand some of
the areas in a way that suits them.
GCSE Business
Students identified Business as one
subject which has a close similarity to
some of the concepts around
Economics. Although a merger was
proposed in the discussions, it was
reminded that exam boards have the
power to set their own syllabuses and
that right is not from the authority by
government. Issues on how all
students from an earlier age need
adequate financial education were also
emphasised, but it was understood
that Years 7-9 will already be receiving
this learning in future. In considering
these reforms, a strong emphasis was
made on the need to develop
entrepreneurship skills and a wider
understanding of what it takes to
create and sustain an enterprise.
Courses like ‘Young Enterprise’ were
recommended to participate outside of
classes. While core functions in the
specification are still necessary,
significant evolutions around
technology and social media also need
equal parity in the approach of how
businesses engage with their
consumers.
As vital it is to cover as much ground
in the course of the GCSE, students
indicated that if more attention was
given to specific areas and long term
projects, such as running a model
business as a group, were felt to be
vital if lessons from this subject could
be practically applied in later life. As it
stands, many teachers educating on
the subject were felt to be falling short
of the standards which students should
understand the topics covered and has
to be reflected as a matter of priority in
which the subject is regarded.
GCSE Design and Technology
There was much praise on the reforms
taking place for DT. On the one hand,
it was felt that the requirement of
creating prototypes was felt to be
sufficiently stimulating and the content
of the specification looked more than
challenging to reflect the demands
beyond GCSE. However, as one
student in the group iterated to the
group from a friend who had studied
this themselves, it was seen that the
level of demand in coursework was
intensive and discouraged people from
enjoying the vocation behind the
subject because of its difficulty. A
balance of achieving good quality
coursework and equal rigour needs to
be factored by exam boards who will
be designing their own specification.
As having a good standard of maths
was also illustrated as an important
subject where an understanding could
be applied to this, some who may
struggle with the more academic
aspect of learning, practical talent and
ability should not be discounted and to
be judged on an individual basis.
Creativity in ability and application is
necessary for a student’s
development. One student had the
idea of even separating engineering
from the rest, but still incorporates
elements of the course.
The group discussing the document
felt much of what was written was
repetitive in some cases and specific
headings which discussed numerous
facets of DT would have proved useful.
GCSE Psychology
In the course of this discussion, it was
felt the written content, though often
complex for those unfamiliar with the
subject was sufficiently straightforward
to be interpreted by exam boards in
designing their course specification to
make it rigorous in its practice. Some
concerns arose in one sense that the
allocated coursework study into a
choice of selected topics may be
limiting if a student may find a relevant
area of research which may be
relevant to the course and could be
something which motivates them in the
course of their work. Perhaps allow
this in the optional respect, where they
can consult with teachers. Conversely,
it was agreed students did need to
learn of theories that have now been
otherwise challenged or disproven in
order to broaden their thinking and
allow them to make their own
conclusions should they take the
subject for further study.
Questions were asked whether some
of the concepts tackled in the
specification are appropriate for the
age of students taking the subject and
that consideration has to be given to
the extent of covering serious mental
health issues and criminal related
activity, where further investigation can
be taken into A Level. Exam boards
must be careful too in looking at the
proportion of theory based evidence to
what is considered factually accurate
and to ensure students are informed of
areas which are credible and those
that are dubious.
A-Level Philosophy
It was identified in the course of this
discussion that students would be
sufficiently challenged in being able to
scrutinise diverse topics in the
philosophy syllabus and analysing
various schools of thought, which
would advance students in HE. In the
course of the feedback, significant
disagreement was found to the
inclusion of religious studies as part of
the course material and whether it was
best separate as its own subject field
or whether it was best to continue
integrating it as part of Philosophy.
While some argued that much of
Western culture is inseparable from
Christianity, as an example, it is harder
to disregard some of its teachings to
understand some of the philosophical
debates. It was widely agreed though
that religion would remain intrinsic to
the concepts being learned and that
students who were previously
disinclined to carry on the subject,
because of a lack of attention to other
aspects, such as philosophy of art,
would be enhanced.
Students were concerned that the
reading list suggested would be very
intensive and solutions must be found
to ensure that while they read different
texts, closer scrutiny should be paid to
specific passages in some to ensure
the course is not impacted by the pace
of reading required. Preparation for
this kind of independent study is
accepted for university study.
GCSE Sociology
There were a number of concerns that
were raised throughout the subject
content of these changes. While the
group which analysed this content
reform were confident that much of the
concepts covered would be
intellectually rigorous and would allow
the skill development of students, a
fear was that many of the theories
addressed were somewhat outdated
and could not wholly be accepted as
an accurate reflection on society as it
is today. While figures such as Marx
and Becker are included in the
specification, the content should be
more adventurous about issues that
would relate to people in the present
day.
As part of some of the suggested
changes to include, if possible,
students should be allowed to
challenge older theories with their own
conclusions and to include debate
activities as a more practical element
to stimulate the critical thinking which
students will require on in later study.
A piece of work in evaluating society
from a student’s perspective will too be
beneficial in understanding the role
that they have and which others
contribute. Focusing alone on UK
agendas will not be appropriate in a
globalised age – considering the
functions of other societies within the
described context will be vital.
Why Engage?
As these reforms are most likely to
impact younger generations, or the
age groups of the students who took
part in this event, it was felt to be
important as to why young people
would take part in a consultation such
as this and the benefits of being
motivated in such activities.
Responses to the facilitator leading
this wider group included that it was a
rare opportunity to be in the DfE itself
for such an occasion and that having
the benefit of hindsight meant that their
input onto these reforms would be
valuable in respect of referring to their
learning experiences, particularly if
they had studied the given subjects
themselves.
However, students were willing to
criticise the DfE, besides other
government departments in general,
for their seeming lack of effort to reach
out to young people. As one of them
stated:
“There’s not a scope to get young
people’s views. It’s only been in the
last few years that the government
have thought ‘ooh, we should ask
some young people what they think is
important.’”
Although these are opinions of
students and may not reflect the
Department’s own feelings on their
efforts to engage with young people on
their work, but this was a recurring
theme which was highlighted by other
students in the course of this activity.
One suggested how in these
consultations ‘You come to us, we
[government] don’t come to you.’ It
was seen by some as fortunate they
were aware of this event, so they could
at least have an input on discussions.
Other challenges raised included:
Teachers are too reliant on
technology – in subjects like
maths; one student indicated
one of their siblings was
struggling due to a strong
emphasis on software to
provide tasks and homework
after lessons. This was said to
be disengaging the young
person with regards to their
interest in the subject.
Grammar schools were
sometimes viewed in higher
esteem than their
comprehensive counterparts
and the academic excellence of
those schools in the latter are
not sufficiently given credit by
parents or students who study
in grammar schools for their
quality.
This group may be the only
cohort in this environment to
discuss these reforms in greater
detail. It was identified that
many of the students
participating are also civically
highly engaged, so are more
likely to be taking part in this
kind of activity out of choice and
may not be reaching out to
those who have previously
struggled in the consulted
subjects.
Some of the students present included
Members of Youth Parliament (MYP)
who felt that popular campaigns such
as the ‘Curriculum for Life’, which
focuses on the improvement on the
quality of lessons such as PSHE and
Citizenship Studies, that for the young
people they represent it was felt that
all subjects should integrate an
element which explores personal
development in a young person’s
learning. It was strongly felt that the
perceptions surrounding Business and
Technology Education Council (BTEC)
study or International Baccalaureate
(IB) as options was often severely
undermined. For students to study
those which are beyond core or
humanities remit, engaging them to
ensure they have a choice of what to
study without fear of prejudice and
have equal priority in their support, as
well as resources provided, will be
beneficial. While BTEC courses have
gained in popularity in recent years,
there may be a cause for concern
when they are not sufficiently
preparing people for university. 1
Counter to criticism on over reliance of
technology, it was recognised that
schools and colleges must adapt
consistently in its advancement and
ensure students can utilise the
resources available that can support
their learning.
1 ‘Proportion of top BTEC students doubles: Hefce report’ Times Higher Education, February 26 2015 https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/proportion-of-top-btec-students-doubles-hefce-report/2018796.article
Conclusion
The debates from this round of
consultation gives a stark reminder of
the closer attention by the Department
that calling on the views of students
should be equal, and to some extent a
greater priority for the views of young
people across the country. As
illustrated in the discussions on levels
of engagement with younger
generations on government reforms
and policy, there is a great deficit in
innovation and expertise which views
of the effective service users of these
subjects are not yet given serious
priority when they could be extremely
useful in their knowledge around
consultation opportunities such as this.
While this may be a critical
assessment of the wider workings of
government departments, it should be
noted that the feedback posed by
students in subject content was
supportive of the need for intellectual
challenge and ensuring that their
application will have greater weight
when continuing further study or
looking for employment. It should not
be forgotten that as rigorous the
demands of the learning have to be for
students, room for creativity and
critical thinking must be allowed for
students, affirming the commitment by
the Education Secretary that the arts
must not be forgotten and given equal
weight in these largely humanities
based subjects here.2
While activities in this event varied
from that of October’s, it does not
disregard some of the
recommendations by students at that
consultation. On the contrary,
departments may wish to look again
and consider the ideas which will bring
young people into the department. It is
now within the hands of the DfE as to
what actions they will make of the
2 ‘Nicky Morgan defends her attitude to arts education’, Arts Professional, 6 July 2015 http://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/nicky-morgan-defends-her-attitude-arts-education
individual subject responses and if
they will give due consideration to the
ideas put forward to ensure these
reforms meet the criteria they have set
themselves.
ConsultGov
ConsultGov
1 Northumberland Avenue Trafalgar Square
London WC2N 5BW
We wish to thank the Department for Education for hosting
and funding the event. All the students, teachers, guests,
volunteers and partner organisations who came along on
the day. ConsultGov is especially grateful to Ammarah
Javid, Isa Mutlib, Jack Welch and Kate Willoughby for
their time in helping to run the event smoothly.
Alice Dermody-Palmer Isa Mutlib
Alysha Bodman Jack Welch
Ammarah Javid Kate Willoughby
Ayath Ullah Luke Thornton
Chris Mells Maliha Reza
Craig Bateman Michelle Akpata
Danielle Osajivbe-Williams Natalie Canlas
Edward Joseph Nayeema Babul
Freya Pigott Rachael Farrington
Gabriel Furey Ryan Giltinane
Georgia Sykes Sherona Lan
Gulwali Passaraly Stefany Coba Blandon
Hamza Kazmi Surina Bharath
Harriet Linley Tamanna Miah
Harvey Chandler Tanjinna Miah