Leader — Children pay for Gove’s tinkering

Was the GCSE shake-up under former Education Secretary Michael Gove too vigorous?

Photos of pupils leaping into the air flooded the media last month, lending an obligatory air of celebration to GCSE results day.

Earlier in the summer, many teachers rejoiced at the news that Education Secretary Michael Gove, reformer extraordinaire, was leaving the Department for Education.

But with Gove out, the aftertaste of his vigorous exam reforms is only now making itself known in his absence.

This year, many students have been hard-hit on results day as schools have struggled to swallow radical changes to the exam structure. Predictably, it was the top players who performed best amid moving goal posts.

The English GCSE has suffered most, and not just due to the loss of beloved texts like To Kill A Mockingbird. The course is now linear and the ‘speaking and listening’ part of the exam has been axed.

The changes to GCSEs caused Brian Lightman, General Secretary of Association of School and College Leaders to say that year on year comparisons is now like judging ‘apples against oranges’.

Amongst teachers in local schools, many admitted there were problems this year and expressed that changes in education policy were too frequent. One Headteacher said that there were many last minute changes to exams, while another teacher said he was “disappointed” that the headline results had fallen.

Hackney remained above the national average with 61% of pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C grades including English and maths, above the 2013 national figure of 59.2%.

But Hackney’s overall high scores could not hide the significant dips in some of the borough’s schools. One school saw its pass rate fall by 10 per cent and another by 18. Schools already on the lower end of the scale suffered the biggest drop in scores. 
For all students, dropping a grade can be crushing, but for those on the C/D borderline failing GCSEs can scupper chances of gaining further and higher education.

Publicly, we’ve heard time and again that the DfE’s reforms are first and foremost aimed at helping the neediest pupils, and the schools in the most deprived areas. But the collateral damage of this year’s drop in results seems to have landed right on top of those very pupils.