There
is an article in the Daily Telegraph outlining the opposition of Cambridge
University to the planned scrapping of AS exams and their claim that this will
lead to UK pupils being less likely to be offered a place. For the full piece, click here.
This
raises an interesting debate which is getting very little public discussion so
it is worth raising it here. The current plan from the Department for
Education is to scrap the current system whereby pupils take AS Levels at the
end of the Lower Sixth which form 50% of their A Levels and are completed with
the taking of A2 exams at the end of the Upper Sixth. Instead, pupils
will sit exams at the end of a two year course. The teaching of these new
courses is scheduled to start in September 2015 with the first of the 'new' A
Levels being sat in the summer of 2017.
Michael
Gove's rationale is that this will increase rigour in sixth form education and
end the opportunity for pupils to re-take exams. Already the January
sitting of exams has been scrapped so that AS Levels can only be re-taken at
the end of the Upper Sixth along with A2 exams. While I have no
difficulty with the idea of a rigorous examination system this means that
pupils currently in the Upper Sixth are being placed under great pressure next
summer with exams both before and after half term. The perceived wisdom
is that this will see a drop in results across the country which would fit in
with another of Michael Gove's plans.
However,
it is difficult to anticipate the extent of this impact and it is interesting
to see that the universities have not made any alterations to their offers as
they 'wait and see'. Indeed, the biggest surprise this year has been the
re-appearance of unconditional offers which have been made to several of our
pupils at King's. This includes highly-rated courses at Russell Group
universities which gives some indication of the state of play in higher
education at present.
One
advantage of a return to exams at the end of two year's of study is that the
summer term of the Lower Sixth will no longer be partially lost to exams
meaning greater time for teaching as well for the breadth of education.
It would be great to see opportunities taken for personal research
projects, such as the Extended Project Qualification, which we already
offer, and more extra-curricular activities such as Arts Festivals, music
and drama productions and sport. All of these are vital ingredients of
the fully rounded education at King's which prepares our pupils to be happy,
successful individuals.
Having
said which, before we get to taste the benefits there are issues to be faced.
For over ten years, Cambridge and most other universities have used
results attained at AS Level as a good guide for making university offers.
With an increase in overseas pupils applying, Cambridge is being clear in
stating that this may lead to pupils in the UK being disadvantaged in the race
for places.
More
fundamentally, the first teaching of these exams is now only 18 months away and
still there is no firm information from the Department of Education about the
structure and content of the new qualifications. I am confident that
King's is agile enough to give our pupils the best opportunities whatever might
be proposed but our young men and women deserve a lot better. It is one
thing for Michael Gove to have grand plans and easy headlines but an Education
Secretary worth his salt should have made better progress in the planning
and communication of the most radical overhaul of exams in this country since
the introduction of AS Levels in the year 2000.
