The New Examination System - GCSE

Walter Roy

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781000586763
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Reform of the public examination system for sixteen-year-olds presented a considerable challenge to secondary schools. The new General Certification of Secondary Education, introduced in 1988, was more than a continuation of the G.C.E. 'O' level and C.S.E. examinations at the time. The introduction of national criteria by the Department of Education, the part played by the Secondary Schools Examination Council, the emergence of new examining bodies were new dimensions faced by schools accustomed to exercising considerable autonomy in designing a curriculum. How far would the new examination reflect what was actually taught in our classrooms? What were its new features? Which pupils would be entered, and with what prospect of success? Above all, how would schools meet a tight time schedule, which required study of new syllabuses to be ready by 1986 for the first examinations held in 1988? Originally published in 1986 this book was intended to answer some of these questions and provide an up-to-date picture of the present state of the examination world, with indications of future developments in the vital years ahead. It aimed to assist those immediately and urgently concerned with implementing this far-reaching educational reform. Today it can be considered in its historical context.

Chapter One
Introduction: Past, Present and Future

When the General Certificate of Education was first introduced in 1951 it broke new ground. The notion of a single subject examination, as distinct from the old school certificate which required candidates to pass in a group of subjects, reflected the widely held belief that individual children possessed different aptitudes, and that the curriculum in schools should both recognise, and provide for, such differences. The 1944 Education Act, still relatively new on the statute book, emphasised the right of each child to be educated according to "age, ability and aptitude". But the aspirations behind the Act represented a striving towards equality of opportunity, an opening of doors towards goals previously closed to all but a few. What mattered was the individual child; it was the business of the schools to shape a curriculum which suited the child, and the business of public examinations to reflect that curriculum rather than lead it. The schools were the masters and the examination boards the servants. Even before the introduction of comprehensive schools, the notions that a larger number of subjects should be taught in the new secondary schools, that there should be an element of choice for the majority of pupils, providing a balanced curriculum, had taken firm root. As yet, in the early 'fifties, the debate about examinations reform centred largely around the twenty per cent deemed capable of achieving G.C. Ό' levels in five or more subjects - those selected for grammar schools - to ensure for them a passport to higher education. But the single subject examination was intended to reflect individual differences give scope for individual talents, and allow for a differentiated curriculum, rather than the group or core mentality underlying the old school certificate. The new secondary modern schools, which formed part of the tripartite system of grammar, technical and modern schools, created by the 1944 Education Act, were to be free from the shackles of external examinations altogether.

The G.C.E. certainly got off the ground as a successful single subject examination. No one of any standing within the educational fraternity seemed to quarrel with the fact that the universities continued to have the major say in what the schools should examine, with the examination boards based on Oxford and Cambridge leading the field at least in the public eye, but London University, and the Joint Matriculation Board in the North, being senior partners in a firmly entrenched examination establishment. The newly founded Associated Examining Board broke new ground in offering G.C.E. Ό' and Ά' level subjects not only in the conventional subjects taught in schools, but also examining subjects with a vocational flavour, such as engineering, technical drawing, and commerce usually taught in further education colleges. These reflected the growing points in the curriculum and the conviction that subjects with a vocational slant had a definite place in the G.C.E. system. The Associated Examining Board was not directly associated with, nor controlled by any university, and was immediately popular with technical schools and further education establishments, subsequently gaining considerable ground in schools which liked its 'new look' G.C.E. syllabuses.

But the most remarkable feature of the new G.C.E. 'O' level examination was its success with employers. The idea that it was to be a preparation for the limited number of students proceeding to higher education, mainly via the 'A' level route, was quickly abandoned in favour of the G.C.E. being considered a passport to good jobs. One employer after another and a multiplicity of public and private institutions demanded, and accepted, G.C.E. 'O' level passes, usually in five subjects, always including English and mathematics, as the hallmark of a successfully completed secondary education at sixteen. The new secondary modern schools were not slow to get the message. The notion of equality of opportunity, albeit as yet through differentiated schooling involving selection at 11+, was not seen through the abandonment of examinations, but rather by giving secondary modern youngsters a chance to take the G.C.E. This movement gained considerable ground in the early and mid 'fifties, when one secondary modern school after another introduced G.C.E. 'O' level for its brighter pupils, achieving results which were often markedly better than those attained by the bottom third of grammar school pupils who had, five years earlier, succeeded in passing the 11-plus examination. Such success by pupils rejected at an early age as not being suitable for an academic education, demonstrated to the world at large the inaccuracy of 11-plus and certainly helped to prepare the way for the establishment of comprehensive schools. There were of course, various social, political and economic factors which also furthered the comprehensive school movement. By the late 'fifties, G.C.E. 'O' level was firmly established in the secondary modern schools of the country.

But the success of the secondary modern school in giving a minority of their pupils a chance to gain usually respectable, often good, and sometimes outstanding, examination results, exacted its price. What about the rest of the pupils in those schools who had no access to G.C.E. and indeed, to no public examinations at all? What was wrong with giving them an examination which they could pass, even if G.C.E. Ό¹ level was too academic and unsuitable? As pressure built up for more and more candidates to take the G.C.E. in those schools, so the unsuitability of an examination designed for the top twenty per cent became painfully obvious. More and more pupils were entered, often with little chance of success. Far from wanting to be free from the shackles of external examinations, the schools themselves, reflecting the aspirations of pupils and parents, and the desires of teachers, wanted both the incentive within and the passport without. This led to the establishment of a large number of different examinations available for school pupils. The Chamber of Commerce and City & Guilds certificates, other certificates awarded by the Union of Educational Institutions, met the need for those who had an emergent vocational aim, but not for others. There emerged a vast number of local certificates all over the country, designed and administered by teachers in their own schools, with the support of local education authorities. These were usually designed by groups of local schools, and bore the title of the locality, e.g. 'The Luton Proficiency Certificate¹. These developments demonstrated the need for the availability of an examination, which was nationally recognised but easier to pass than the difficult G.C.E. '0' levels. It thus prepared the way for the emergence of the Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (C.S.E) following the report of the Beloe 1 Committee, set up to consider the whole issue in the early 'sixties.

The report of the Beloe Committee was accepted by the Government in 1962, and was hailed as a piece of major educational reform; the schools responded enthusiastically to the idea that C.S.E. should co-exist with G.C.E. '0' level for sixteen year olds, and that school teachers rather than university dons should shape the new examination. Some of the features of the G.C.E. were inevitably reproduced in C.S.E.: the secondary school curriculum was subject orientated, and it followed that the new examination had to be a single subject examination. Similarly, the idea that an examination could only be passed by some pupils was still well entrenched, so that a target group had to be identified. This target group was seen as the forty per cent below the twenty per cent being currently prepared for the G.C.E. '0' level examination, so that some sixty per cent of the school population now had access to nationally recognised certification. But C.S.E., pioneered a number of new features which are clearly reflected in the new General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) to be available from 1988. First, there was the abandonment of the pass/fail concept, a radical break with G.C.E., whereby some passed, and others, many others, failed each year. The new C.S.E. grading system, whereby pupils were awarded grades 1,2,3, 4 or 5, below which an ungraded performance was still recorded on the result slip, already contained the seeds of the idea developed by Sir Keith Joseph, that pupils should show what they could do rather than being penalised for what they could not. Continuous assessment of work done over the last two years of secondary schooling, and a substantial element of oral examining, not only in English and modern languages, but in other subjects, often including mathematics and history, at the option of teachers, were distinctly new features, reflecting new and more adventurous teaching styles particularly in the new comprehensive schools, forming a sharp contrast with the largely written approach to assessment followed in the grammar schools. The growing points in the curriculum were clearly reflected in the range of subjects available, which grew at a fast, and for some users, an alarming rate.

Three difference modes of examining were established by the C.S.E. Boards: Mode 1 examinations were based on syllabuses designed by subject panels, consisting very largely of the teachers in the regions served by a C.S.E. board and were purely external examinations, papers being marked by the boards' examiners. Mode 2 syllabuses were based on agreements by groups of schools in a particular area, but still wishing to have external examinations for their candidates. Finally, mode 3 were entirely school based syllabuses, designed and examined by teachers in an individual school, though subject to external moderation. The development of mode 3 was a radical break with the established tradition of examining. Diversity was seen as a virtue, and it was expected from the examination boards to provide the appropriate service. Two C.S.E. boards in particular, the East Anglian and the West Yorkshire and Lindsey Boards, positively encouraged mode 3, and the number of such syllabuses designed by individual schools soon reached a thousand, with careful external moderation monitoring internal marking and assessment.

The C.S.E., following the Beloe recommendation, was founded on the philosophy of teacher control. Ip the heyday of the 'sixties, the teachers were the pioneers: they knew what they were doing, what was required, and it was not only logical but right, that they should decide the syllabuses, set the standards and run the examination boards. The constitutions of the C.S.E. boards therefore had an inbuilt teacher majority; the profession was in charge of its own destiny, at least as far as the new examination was concerned. But a number of problems soon reared their heads: first, there was the question of those borderline pupils who might just succeed in getting a G.C.E. 'O' level, or who might just fail that examination; should they be entered for G.C.E., or C.S.E., or both examinations? Parental pressure continued to run firmly in favour of the well-established G.C.E., with entries for that examination .extending well beyond the supposed twenty-five per cent target group. An attempt to solve the dilemma was made by establishing the equivalence of C.S.E. Grade 1 with 'O' level grades, A, Β and C. After initial skirmishes, a C.S.E. Grade 1 was accepted throughout the world of education and employment as equivalent to a pass at '0' level, and it appeared that a solution had been found. Further flexibility appeared to be encouraged when the G.C.E. boards followed their C.S.E. partners and abolished the pass/fail concept, declaring all their grades, now designated by the letters, A,B,C,D,E, to be passes, although most people realised that a pass really meant getting one of the first three grades.

But further problems remained. What was to be done with all those pupils who were outside the Beloe definition of C.S.E,, i.e. the remaining forty per cent deemed not to be capable of passing^any examination, referred in the Newsom report 2s 'the other half?' However, it became quickly evident that these forty per cent were not to be done out of their chance of having a try in C.S.E., particularly in the vital subjects of English and mathematics. Again, a pragmatic solution was found: the C.S.E. boards accepted the notion of 'limited grade' syllabuses, whose content was lighter, less complex and therefore, within the reach of the less able youngsters. Such syllabuses were limited in the sense that candidates being entered would usually obtain a grade no higher than a 3, a procedure which the new G.C.S.E. examination will adopt in setting certain questions aimed at candidates from the lower ability ranges. Thus, C.S.E., particularly in English and maths, but also in a host of other subjects, became available for more and more candidates, reaching the eightieth percentile ranks. The idea of a forty per cent target group for C.S.E. below the twenty per cent deemed capable of passing '0' level was soon abandoned. Whatever criticisms made of the straight jacket of external examinations, whatever the problems of convincing parents, employers and the youngsters themselves that C.S.E. was worth having, even below Grade 1, the demand for the examination soon extended almost throughout the ability range, with schools often entering whole year groups except remedial pupils. C.S.E. might not have the academic respectability of the well-established '0' level, but it compensated by giving a chance to many more girls and boys to show what they could do, by its introduction of syllabuses which were often closely related to the pupils' everyday lives and experiences, and by developing examination techniques based on the extensive use of oral examining and continuous assessment, thereby reducing the dependence on formal written papers with rigid time limits.

In the meantime, the schools were having to come to terms with the existence of a dual system of examination at 16+, which, as it developed, showed up not only considerable strains and stresses in school organisation, but was also seen as socially divisive particularly by the more fervent advocates of comprehensive schools. What was the point, they said, of abandoning the 11+ examinations and having a unified secondary system if the examination system itself continued to be divisive? How could teachers make really accurate judgments as to whether the G.C.E. or the C.S.E. was the most suitable target at 14, when such notions had been rejected at 11? Since teaching groups aiming at one or the other examination, had to be identified at the beginning of the 4th year, the sorting out of G.C.E. and C.S.E. candidates had to take place during the third year; in the larger comprehensive schools, this meant that sorting processes began in the spring term of that year, earlier than many teachers, pupils and parents thought wise or appropriate.

Alongside the establishment of the dual system of examinations, a number of other developments took place in the comprehensive schools which already pointed the way towards the need for a common examination system; first, there was the emergence of mixed ability teaching, standard practice in many comprehensive schools in the early years, following what was happening in the primary schools. More frequently, mixed ability groups co-existed with setting 3 arrangements. Whilst English, mathematics, foreign languages, and traditional sciences-physics, chemistry and biology - continued to be setted, often in G.C.E. or C.S.E. sets, the emergence of the option system, whereby pupils, in consultation with teachers and parents, chose four, five or six subjects at the beginning of the 4th year, created teaching groups containing a wide ability range of pupils, even when this was not intended by the school administration. The idea of grouping pupils according to interest rather than ability gained considerable ground. If the school required Jill or John to include at least one science and at least one humanities subject, those who selected human biology and geography in preference to chemistry and history, often found themselves in mixed ability 'option' groups, aiming either at G.C.E. or C.S.E., or both.

But for teachers, pupils and parents the strains and stresses of the dual system were seen most clearly during the 3rd year, i.e. at 14, when decisions had to be made as to whether a particular pupil should follow a G.C.E. or C.S.E. course. Parental pressure was clearly towards the well established G.C.E. examination; whatever the advantages of the C.S.E., however good its presentation by the school, the need for making such a decision at all, led to unnappiness and sometimes disagreement between the various parties, and certainly between many parents and teachers, with the pupil caught in the middle. Schools felt themselves responsible for ensuring that candidates were successful and for those well outside the G.C.E. target group, success meant entering them for the C.S.E. Parents, on the other hand, often felt ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Original Title
• Original Copyright
• Contents
• PREFACE
• 1. Introduction: Past, Present and Future
• 2. Subjects and Syllabuses: The National Criteria
• 3. Assessment and Certification
• 4. G.C.S.E.: - Inside the School
• 5. The New Examining Groups
• 6. G.C.S.E. - Through Students' Eyes
• 7. A Plan for Action
• APPENDIX: GCSE Examining Groups in England and Wales
• Index