As many of you are aware the Minister for Education, Michael Gove recently made a U-turn on the proposal to scrap GCSEs and replace them with the EBC (English Baccalaureate). The Minister proposed this new qualification last year in order to stop what he called ‘the race to the bottom’, saying that exams offered easier qualifications so that schools would reach the targets given to them by the government.


However, I wonder does Mr. Gove really understand the pressure facing student taking the current GCSE?


This year I will be sitting my GCSEs at Croydon High School and I argue that GCSEs are not being ‘dumbed down’ as Mr Gove implies; instead they are becoming increasingly harder and memorising information is not the key to achieving a good grade. For example, a recent practice question I faced when preparing for my Biology B2 examination read:

 

(a)  Stem cells can be used to treat a condition such as paralysis. Explain why.


This question requires evidence to be given in order to support the statement and discussion of  why the evidence presented backed up the statement. Specific scientific language was required otherwise no marks would be given, even if the candidate had ‘the right idea’. So is this question really too ‘dumb’ for GCSE candidates?   


For those of you who think that GCSEs have become easier, I can assure you they have not.  They may appear easy from the outside but looking at the mountain of revision before me in the next couple of months I can promise  you that a lot of hard work will be done. Together with the importance of performing well under timed conditions, there is enormous pressure on students to succeed from parents and teachers, not to mention universities  who are increasingly looking towards GCSEs as an indicator of entry into their establishments. GCSEs are tough.


After all this effort on my part and the other candidates taking their GCSEs this year, will our results account for anything? Will people look back on the GCSEs of 2013 and say they were only a ‘cop out’ and our results meaningless. I sincerely hope not.  I believe that Mr Gove could have made some changes, as there is always room for improvement, but announcing radical revisions with such a fanfare, then making a U-turn and still denouncing current GCSEs leaves us, the GCSE candidates of 2013, in a state of unease. I do hope our hard work will be recognised.