duhOfqual have an open consultation and one of the things they are consulting on, is whether there should be an additional resit opportunity for the current Maths GCSE in the Summer of 2017.

DUH!! OF COURSE THERE SHOULD!

Let me lay out the facts …

  • Current year 11 take their exams in June 2016.
  • Those that get a D have to resit and below that they are required to take a “stepping stone” qualification.
  • Those resitting GCSE will have one opportunity to sit the current specification – November 2016. I don’t have an issue with that … BUT the results for this will be received in Jan 2017 so any student requiring a resit will have about 4 or 5 months to prepare for the NEW GCSE.
  • The new GCSE is bigger and fatter! It has different assessment objectives. It has new content. It has extra examination time. IT CANNOT BE TAUGHT IN 5 MONTHS – unless of course the students were studying nothing else.
  • By forcing these students to take the new GCSE we are setting them up to fail. This just isn’t fair.
  • Oh … and if they fail again in the June they have to continue to resit in their year 13, along with all the “then” new year 12’s who will have sat the new GCSE in JUne 2017 who also want to resit – it’s OK saying that the students will be funded if they get a “4” but given that a “Good” pass will be a “5” there will be lots of students that want to resit or even require it as a condition of getting onto courses. We still don’t know what universities are going to ask for do we? (tumbleweed rolls past!)

Maybe some of the implications have dawned on someone and the “powers that be” are finally listening to some of us “banging on” about the goings on in the real world of education but they’d better get a move on so that exam boards and us teachers (oh and our students!) know whats in store for them!

HAVE YOUR SAY … CLICK CONSULTATION HERE

Tits

To be honest I can’t believe that there is a need to consult on this and was hoping that common sense would have prevailed – it doesn’t take a genius! All it takes is for someone to take the time and think through the different scenarios that a year 12 student could be facing in 13 months time as they get handed their resit results . But … then again if they didn’t do it, they’d have nothing to say that “We listened and we … ** insert any old bullsh1t phrase**”