Thursday 20 September 2012

Goodbye GCSE and Welcome to the new English Baccalaureate Certificate


Education Secretary Michael Gove has announced the replacement of GCSE exams with the new English Baccalaureate certificate.
In his speech the Education Secretary made it clear that the new qualification would be more rigorous than GCSEs and it would focus on academic subjects.  It will be the biggest shake up to the secondary school examination system since the introduction of GCSEs in 1986 and it will mean a single end-of-course exam and one exam board for core subjects.
Announcing the move in the Commons, Mr Gove said: “After years of drift, decline and dumbing down, at last we are reforming our examination system to compete with the world's best.”
He added: “The GCSE was conceived - and designed - for a different age and a different world.
“We know that employers and academics have become less confident in the worth of GCSE passes - they fear students lack the skills for the modern workplace and the knowledge for advanced study.
“It is time for the race to the bottom to end. It is time to tackle grade inflation and dumbing down. It is time to raise aspirations and restore rigour to our examinations.”
All the existing boards will be eligible to bid for “EBacc” - as the new qualification will be known - subjects with exams regulator Ofqual deciding which bid wins the franchise.
Pupils beginning secondary school this year will take the first new exams - in English, Maths and Sciences - in 2017.
News Source : The Independent Education & BBC Education News 

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