Too much focus on accountability and examinations

Since 2010, the government has reformed just about everything that could be changed in key stage 4 and post-16 qualifications. 

From a teacher’s point of view, no qualification remained untouched. GCSEs and A levels were given a new structure, content and assessment rules. The Diploma was quickly abandoned. The place of vocational qualifications in performance tables shrank. EBacc and Progress 8 accountability measures have been established. However, rather than revolutionary deep alterations to the system, these changes are more evolutionary, even if they seem daunting.

Our qualifications-based system is not based on what students should know and be able to do, but on how many examinations they can pass. And because our schools are accountable for students’ performance in examinations there has been less of an emphasis on ensuring that many students, especially lower achievers, are studying the broad range of subjects necessary for them to thrive in later life as citizens.