[EDLING:932] 'Language catastrophe' blamed for surge in top GCSE grades

[Francis M Hult]

By way of lg-policy...

> >From the Times on-line,
> 
> August 25, 2005
> 
> 'Language catastrophe' blamed for surge in top GCSE grades
> By Simon Freeman, Times Online
> 
> 
> Teachers' leaders warned the Government today that the record rise in
> pupils gaining the top grades at GCSE was the result of students
> abandoning languages and other challenging subjects for softer options.
> Overall GCSE pass rates among the 600,000 candidates were a shade up
> overall, with the number of candidates achieving any grade from a G to A*
> rising by 0.2 per cent from last year to 97.8 per cent.
> 
> The big improvement has been at the top end of the spectrum, with the
> number of candidates awarded at least a C grade up by 2 per cent, to 61.2
> per cent - the largest rise since 1992. The Government was urged today to
> reverse its controversial policy of allowing pupils to drop modern
> languages at 14 after a dramatic fall in the number of French and German
> entries, down 14.4 per cent and 13.7 per cent respectively since last
> year.
> 
> The figures were even lower in the year-long language GCSE Short Courses,
> where numbers dropped by 49.8 per cent in German and 42 per cent in
> French. The collapse coincided with the first year of modern languages
> being optional after the age of 14, a controversial government move which
> came into force last September.
> 
> David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head
> Teachers, condemned the decision: "The collapse in languages is a
> catastrophe," he said. "The Government is going to have to reverse its
> policy of allowing students to opt out at 14." Mr Hart said that although
> the policy change was not implemented until September last year, it had
> been pre-empted by many schools a year earlier, who opted to make
> languages voluntary for students selecting subjects in 2003.
> 
> He added: "The results are excellent news for students and teachers, but
> there are real concerns. It is obvious that students are understandably
> playing the system by studying their stronger subjects outside the
> compulsory core of English, maths and science. "The entry patterns for
> science and modern foreign languages make this abundantly clear. "We are
> in danger of reaching a position where league tables and Ofsted are
> driving the system in a way which is not in the interests of the students
> nor in the interests of this country."
> 
> Ellie Johnson Searle, director of the exams watchdog the Joint Council for
> Qualifications, said tht the decline in French, German and Spanish at GCSE
> was "much to be regretted". She said: "Less able candidates are
> increasingly less likely to take these subjects, as demonstrated by a
> significant rise at the higher grades at the same time as a decline in
> grades D to G." But a DfES spokeswoman defended the Government's language
> reforms. She said: "We need to be realistic about what will make language
> learning flourish in our schools. Forcing 14-16 year olds to learn a
> language wont achieve that. What we need to do, and what we are doing, is
> getting children involved in learning languages at a much younger age.
> 
> "That's why we are investing 115m over the next three years to ensure by
> 2010 every child aged 7-11 will be able to learn one or more languages as
> part of their curriculum. Having a large number of children keen on
> languages - as starting early will deliver - is what will make the
> difference. Already over 40 per cent of primary schools offer language
> learning, compared to 20 per cent in 2001." Physical education once again
> saw the biggest increase in entries, up 7.5 per cent from 134,134 in 2004
> to 144,194 this year.
> 
> Jacqui Smith, the Schools Ministers, said the results were a clear
> reflection of the Government's efforts to drive up achievement in tthe
> core subjects of English and maths, the "bedrock of every child's
> education." The A*-C maths pass rate increased by 1.7 per cent from 51.7
> per cent to 53.4 per cent - the biggest rise for five years - and the
> English pass rate was up from 59.9 per cent to 60.9 per cent.
> 
> Praising the efforts of students and teachers, Ms Smith said: "Young
> people need a firm foundation in the basics - no matter what their choices
> are at GCSE - to ensure they have the skills needed to progress and
> succeed in further learning, employment and life - and that means English
> and maths." Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) figures showed 272,140
> entries for French in 2005 compared with 318,095 in 2004. There were just
> 105,288 exam entries in German this year, compared with 122,023 last year
> 
> John Dunford, general secretary of Secondary Heads Association, said
> things were likely to get worse because todays figures represented the
> last batch of candidates for whom taking a languages was compulsory. He
> said: "These figures, from a year before modern languages became voluntary
> for 14 and 15-year-olds, are very bad news, not least for the future of
> this country as a trading nation. Next year will be even lower.  I think
> the figures are in free fall. We are losing a generation of linguists." Mr
> Hart also criticised the weighting given to grades from work-related GNVQ
> courses, which are worth four GCSEs.
> 
> Experts have warned that less bright pupils are encouraged to take this
> GNVQ route - often in subjects such as Information and Communication
> Technology (ICT) - in order to boost their schools league table ranking.
> Entries for vocational courses in what are known as Applied GCSEs - which
> are worth two GCSEs in subjects including construction and hospitality -
> were up by nearly 40,000 this year. And entries for the work-related
> Intermediate GNVQ courses were up by more than 4,000 to about 105,000. Of
> more than 100,000 GNVQ entries last year, 54.2 per cent were in ICT.
> 
> Professor Alan Smithers, director of the University of Buckinghams Centre
> for Education and Employment Research, said: "Schools are bailing out of
> GCSEs and getting into this GNVQ, which Ofsted inspectors have said is
> softer in terms of the amount of time and effort it takes. "We may be
> raising scores but the numbers are failing us in terms of what we are
> providing as an education."
> 
> The Institute of Directors said that many children left school without
> basic skills of reading and writing and argued that employers were crying
> out for an improvement among applicants. Richard Wilson, IoD leader, said:
> "The starting point for employers recruiting staff is surely to have
> access to candidates with basic literacy and numeracy skills. We are not
> there yet." A DfES spokesperson said: "GNVQs have existed in the
> performance tables in their current from since 1997. They represent a very
> limited percentage of the over all A to C grades.
> 
> "The fact is that these qualifications - which have helped many young
> people - are now coming to the end of their use in schools as we develop
> newer qualifications. We can debate the relevant worth of qualifications
> all day, what we do is take the advice of the experts - QCA. "Of course
> how useful a particular qualification is, is linked to what young people
> want to do in terms of their employment and continued education. But what
> we do see as key to everything is English and maths, that's why future
> performance tables will be much more focused around performance in English
> and Maths - the bedrock of the education system."