The exams regulator for England published its annual report for 2008-09. It made recommendations for the longer-term approach to the qualifications and assessment system, including reducing the complexity of the qualifications system and a set of principles to guide the future development of diploma qualifications.
Source: The Second Report of the Chief Regulator, Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator
Links: Report | NIACE press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Dec
A report by a committee of MPs said that he government's focus on early literacy interventions and phonics-based teaching was based on the best available evidence. But there were 'worryingly low' expectations regarding the quality of evidence required to demonstrate the relative effectiveness and, in particular, the cost-effectiveness of different programmes.
Source: Evidence Check 1: Early Literacy Interventions, Second Report (Session 2009-10), HC 44, House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee/TSO
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Dec
Provisional statistics were published for GCSE attainment in England in 2009 by pupil characteristics. The gender gap narrowed by 0.9 percentage points compare with the previous year. Attainment by black and mixed-ethnicity groups increased by more than the overall national rise. The attainment gap between pupils on free school meals and other pupils also continued to narrow slowly. (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education)
Source: Key Stage 4 Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2008/09, Statistical First Release 34/2009, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: SFR | DCSF press release | ATL press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report | BBC report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2009-Dec
The government announced (following consultation) details of the new primary curriculum to take effect in England from 2010, along with improved accountability arrangements for primary schools. In line with the recommendations of the Rose Review, the new curriculum would be organized into six broad areas of learning, rather than the existing subjects: less detailed programmes of learning would allow greater focus on strengthening literacy and numeracy skills, and more time to study essential knowledge and skills in depth. Key stage 2 tests (at age 11) in English and mathematics would remain in place in 2010: but teacher assessment data would be published alongside the test data.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 19 November 2009, columns 3-6WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | DCSF press release | QCDA consultation report | NASUWT press release | NSS press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Nov
The government announced (following a review and consultation) that personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) would became a statutory part of the national curriculum from 2011, with sex and relationships education forming a key part of the subject. Parents would have the right to withdraw their children from sex education up to the age of 15 (rather than 19 hitherto). A linked study found that most parents did not feel that there should be any parental right to withdraw children and young people from sex and relationships education at all.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 5 November 2009, columns 49-52WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Personal, Social, Health And Economic Education: Curriculum reform consultation report to the DCSF, Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency | Sherbert Research, Customer Voice Research: Sex and Relationships Education, Research Report RR175, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Hansard | DCSF press release | Consultation report | Research report | FPA press release | Accord Coalition press release | YWCA press release | UKYP press release | NASUWT press release | ATL press release | NAT press release | BHA press release | SPUC press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | BBC report
Date: 2009-Nov
A study found that citizenship education was increasingly accepted by secondary school leaders and teachers in England. It was perceived to be having a positive impact on students' confidence, tolerance, and respect. Other benefits included better behaviour and attitudes, a greater awareness of existing affairs, and more engagement with local issues. However, there remained a minority of schools where citizenship education was not firmly embedded and where students might not be receiving their statutory entitlement.
Source: Avril Keating, David Kerr, Joana Lopes, Gill Featherstone and Thomas Benton, Embedding Citizenship Education in Secondary Schools in England (2002-08): Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study seventh annual report, Research Report 172, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Brief | NFER press release
Date: 2009-Nov
Provisional statistics were published on GCSE examination results in England for 2008-09. 50.4 per cent of pupils in the maintained sector achieved 5 or more GCSEs at grade A-C or the equivalent including English and mathematics GCSEs, an increase of 2.1 percentage points from 2007-08. (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education)
Source: GCSE and Equivalent Results in England 2008/09 (Provisional), Statistical First Release 27/2009, Department for Children, Schools and Families (web only)
Links: Bulletin | DCSF press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Oct
A survey found that 50 per cent of pupils in years 1-13 in England participated in at least three hours of high quality physical education and out-of-hours school sport in a typical week.
Source: Susannah Quick, Douglas Dalziel, Alex Thornton and Aline Simon, PE and Sport Survey 2008/09, Research Report RR168, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Brief | DCSF press release
Date: 2009-Oct
Provisional data were published on the 2008-09 GCE/A/AS examination results in England. For students aged 16-18 in schools and colleges, the average point score per entry was 731.1, compared with 740.0 in 2007-08. (GCE = General Certificate of Education; A = Advanced; AS = Advanced Subsidiary.)
Source: GCE/Applied GCE A/AS and Equivalent Examination Results in England, 2008/09 (Provisional), Statistical First Release 28/2009, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0870 000 2288) Links: SFR
Date: 2009-Oct
Provisional information was published on the achievements of eligible pupils in England (typically aged 7) in the 2009 national curriculum assessments at key stage 1. Compared with the equivalent final 2008 figures, the overall percentages achieving level 2 or above remained the same in speaking and listening, and in reading and science; increased in writing by one percentage point, and decreased in mathematics by one percentage point.
Source: National Curriculum Assessments at Key Stage 1 in England, 2009, Statistical First Release 21/2009, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0870 000 2288)
Links: SFR | DCSF press release | NASUWT press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Aug
GCSE exam results for 2009 showed continuing improvements across most subjects. Overall results improved by 0.9 percentage points at grades A*-A (from 20.7 per cent in 2008 to 21.6 per cent in 2009) and 1.4 percentage points at grades A-C (from 65.7 per cent in 2008 to 67.1 per cent in 2009). Overall the cumulative percentage of candidates attaining GCSE grades A-G increased by 0.2 percentage points (from 98.4 per cent in 2008 to 98.6 per cent in 2009). (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education)
Source: Press release 27 August 2009, Joint Council for Qualifications (0161 958 3737)
Links: JCQ press release | Results report | DCSF press release | NAHT press release | NASUWT press release | ATL press release | TUC press release | CBI press release | Telegraph report | FT report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Guardian report (3) | BBC report
Date: 2009-Aug
A survey of senior A-level teachers in England found that none of the teachers thought that the recent increase in the proportion of 'A' grades was the result of there being more able students. Only 4 per cent thought that better-quality teachers were the main reason. 80 per cent of those who expressed a view thought that they themselves would have achieved higher overall grades, had they taken modern A-levels.
Source: Anastasia de Waal, Straight A's? A-level teachers' views on today's A-levels, Civitas (020 7401 5470)
Links: Report | Civitas press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Aug
Provisional information was published on the achievements of eligible pupils in England (typically aged 11) in the 2009 national curriculum assessments at key stage 2. The percentages of pupils achieving level 4 or above were as follows: English 80; reading 86; writing 67; mathematics 79; and science 88. Compared with the equivalent final 2008 figures, the results represented no change in mathematics and science, and a decrease of 1 percentage point in English, reading, and writing.
Source: National Curriculum Assessments at Key Stage 2 in England, 2009 (Provisional), Statistical First Release 19/2009, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0870 000 2288)
Links: SFR | DCSF press release | NAHT press release | NASUWT press release | ATL press release | BBC report | Telegraph report | FT report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Aug
Data were published on the 2009 GCE/VCE A/AS examination results. The cumulative percentage of A-level results at grades A-E increased by 0.3 percentage points, from 97.2 per cent in 2008 to 97.5 per cent – the 27th successive year of improvement. There was also an increase of 0.8 percentage points (from 25.9 per cent in 2008 to 26.7 per cent in 2009) in the proportion of results at grade A. (GCE = General Certificate of Education; VCE = Vocational Certificate of Education; A = Advanced; AS = Advanced Subsidiary.)
Source: Press release 20 August 2009, Joint Council for Qualifications (0161 958 3737)
Links: JCQ press release | Results report | DBIS press release | UUK press release | GuildHE press release | NUS press release | UCU press release | NASUWT press release | ATL press release | CBI press release | Conservative Party press release | BBC report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | FT report
Date: 2009-Aug
A report by a committee of MPs said that the Department for Children, Schools and Families had involved itself too much in the detail of policy delivery, placing undue constraints on the executive decision-making abilities of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority – and thereby contributing to delays in issuing SATs results in 2008. It welcomed the abolition of mandatory national testing at key stage 3 as a means of reducing the burden of testing on school pupils in England: but it warned against the unduly hasty introduction of single-level tests.
Source: Policy and Delivery: The national curriculum tests delivery failure in 2008, Sixth Report (Session 2008-09), HC 205, House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Voice press release | ATL press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jul
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the national curriculum. It rejected the view that placing a cap on the proportion of time spent teaching the national curriculum would help schools provide personalized learning for children and young people.
Source: National Curriculum: Government Response to the Committee's Fourth Report, Third Special Report (Session 2008-09), HC 645, House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report | ATL press release
Date: 2009-Jun
The opposition Conservative Party said that it planned to abolish standard assessment tests (SATs) for children at the end of primary schooling (age 11). Instead, pupils would sit national tests in the first year of secondary school. The tests would be marked by teachers instead of by independent assessors, but would still be used to draw up 'league tables' of school performance.
Source: Press release 14 June 2009, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000)
Links: Conservative Party press release | NASUWT press release | ATL press release | NAHT press release | FT report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jun
Researchers examined the impact of healthy school meals on educational outcomes. There was evidence that healthy school meals did improve educational outcomes, in particular in English and science.
Source: Michele Belot and Jonathan James, Healthy School Meals and Educational Outcomes, Working Paper 2009-01, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex (01206 873087)
Links: Working paper | Abstract
Date: 2009-Jun
The inspectorate for education and children's services said that teachers were generally positive about changes introduced into the key stage 3 curriculum in September 2008. Less prescription had enabled them to introduce more varied and engaging approaches to teaching and learning.
Source: Planning for Change: The impact of the new key stage 3 curriculum, HMI 080262, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jun
A think-tank report said that reforms to A-level (Advanced level) exams in 2000 had damaged their intellectual integrity. The changes had not widened participation: but had instead created a generation of 'high maintenance students' who struggled to think for themselves. The A-level should be renewed and expanded by putting universities back in charge, and should be offered at all schools – otherwise the most deprived students would be denied an academic route out of poverty.
Source: Dale Bassett, Thomas Cawston, Laurie Thraves and Elizabeth Truss, A New Level, Reform (020 7799 6699)
Links: Reform press release | UUK press release | Telegraph report | THES report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jun
The report of an official 'expert group' explored the purposes of pupil assessment, the extent to which the existing system met these purposes, and what improvements should be made to it. It said that school report cards, not league tables, needed to be the heart of school accountability; and that although national tests at age 11 in English and maths should remain, those in science should be replaced by teacher assessment. The government accepted all the recommendations.
Source: Report of the Expert Group on Assessment, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Expert Group press release | DCSF letter | DCSF press release | ATL press release | Voice press release | NGA press release | Royal Society press release | CBI press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-May
The exams regulator published its first report, outlining its proposed principles for the piloting of new or changed national qualifications. It expressed concern over the excessive speed with which new diploma qualifications were being introduced.
Source: The First Report of the Chief Regulator of Qualifications and Examinations, Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (0300 303 3344)
Links: Report | Ofqual press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-May
A report by a committee of MPs said that the national curriculum in England was too heavily controlled by government, and should be slimmed down. Schools should have to follow the curriculum only in the core subjects of English, maths, science, and information/communications technology.
Source: National Curriculum, Fourth Report (Session 2008-09), HC 344, House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | NUT press release | Voice press release | ATL press release | BHA press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Apr
The inspectorate for education and children's services said that creative approaches to physical education had encouraged pupils not keen on traditional team activities, and reduced disaffection and improved engagement. Pupils' achievement was good or outstanding in two-thirds of the primary schools visited, and in over three-quarters of the secondary schools visited.
Source: Physical Education in Schools 2005/8: Working towards 2012 and beyond, HMI 080249, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Apr
A think-tank report said that the government's flagship numeracy and literacy strategies in primary schools had failed. Despite £2 billion of investment, the 'national strategies' in primary schools had not achieved the improvements claimed by the government, and standards had risen faster before their implementation.
Source: Tom Richmond and Sam Freedman, Rising Marks, Falling Standards: An investigation into literacy, numeracy and science in primary and secondary schools, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Apr
An independent review recommended that personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) should become part of the statutory national curriculum in both primary and secondary phases.
Source: Alasdair Macdonald, Independent Review of Making Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education Statutory, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Letter (1) | Letter (2) | Hansard | SEF press release | PSHE Association press release | FPA press release | YWCA press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Apr
The exams regulator published new GCSE qualification and subject criteria for English, mathematics and information/communications technology. It said that the exams would test basic functional skills in literacy and numeracy extensively: but that these skills would not be tested separately from the GCSE itself (contrary to a previous government pledge). (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education)
Source: Press release 2 April 2009, Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (0300 303 3344)
Links: Ofqual press release | NUT press release | CBI press release | BBC report | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Apr
A report examined the influences on educational progress and attainment in early and middle childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. It provided a critical analysis of the different factors that influenced low educational attainment, and identified the questions that remained in dispute, based on a review of the literature on individual, family, and school factors.
Source: Kathryn Duckworth, Rodie Akerman, Leslie Morrison Gutman and John Vorhaus, Influences and Leverages on Low Levels of Attainment: A review of literature and policy initiatives, Research Report 31, Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning/University of London (020 7612 6291)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Apr
The final report was published of an independent review (by Jim Rose) of the primary curriculum. It recommended that literacy, numeracy, information/communications technology, and personal development should form the new core of the curriculum. The curriculum should be organized into six new areas of learning, so that children could benefit from high quality subject teaching and cross-curricular studies.
Source: Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum: Final Report, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Summary | Hansard | DCSF press release | Voice press release | Telegraph report | BBC report | Guardian report | FT report
Date: 2009-Apr
A report summarized research and statistical evidence on the subject of deprivation and education for pupils between the foundation stage (ages 3-5) and key stage 4 (ages 14-16) in England, in maintained mainstream schools. A second report summarized national and international evidence on the links between deprivation and educational attainment. There was still 'far too strong' a link between family income and achievement at school.
Source: Deprivation and Education: The evidence on pupils in England, foundation stage to key stage 4, Research Report RTP09-01, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260) | Breaking the Link Between Disadvantage and Low Attainment, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Report 1 | Report 2 | BBC report
Date: 2009-Mar
Researchers examined why some young people disengaged from education and underachieved at key stage 4, assessed the longer-term impact of such disengagement and underachievement, and considered ways in which it might be prevented or countered. The characteristics most associated with such underachievement were being male, being white British, being entitled to free school meals, having special educational needs, and living in a deprived area. Causes of educational disengagement were wide-ranging, often multiple and inter-related, and encompassed curriculum and learning style, workload and coursework, relationships with teachers, school and class environments, peer relationships, aspirations and future plans, family context, and life events.
Source: Meg Callanan, Rachel Kinsella, Jenny Graham, Ola Turczuk and Steven Finch, Pupils with Declining Attainment Between Key Stages 3 and 4: Profiles, experiences and impact of underachievement and disengagement, Research Report RR086, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2009-Mar
An analysis of contextual value added scores for state schools in England during the period 2005-2007 (measuring pupils' progress between key stage 2 and GCSEs) found that girls in girls-only schools made more progress than girls in co-educational schools. (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education)
Source: Where Do Girls Do Best? Value added (VA) during the first five years of secondary school, Good Schools Guide (Telephone)
Links: Summary | GSG press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Mar
An article examined whether there was sufficient professional confidence and autonomy among teachers to challenge the 'hegemonic position' of competitive league tables in the education system in England.
Source: Jon Berry, 'Can there be an alternative to the centralized curriculum in England?', Improving Schools, Volume 12 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Mar
A think-tank paper said that the government's literacy programme for primary school children could end up costing at least £300 million – more than double what was originally planned. It criticized the government for proceeding with one expensive programme – 'Every Child a Reader' – to the exclusion of all other available interventions; and for doing so both before a pilot into the programme had been completed, and also in the absence of any independent evaluations in the United Kingdom.
Source: Every Child A Reader: An example of how top-down education reforms make matters worse, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Feb
A report said that the primary curriculum needed wholesale reform. National tests and strategies, and the focus on standards, had compromised children's entitlement to a broad and balanced primary curriculum. Although a national curriculum was necessary, there also needed to be a protected community component that enabled schools, local authorities, and the communities they served to respond to local needs and opportunities. It proposed that the national/community ratio should be 70/30 to allow schools the flexibility to meet local needs.
Source: Towards a New Primary Curriculum, The Primary Review/Faculty of Education/University of Cambridge (01223 767523)
Links: Report part 1 | Report part 2 | Briefing | Review press release | NUT press release | ATL press release | Green Party press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2009-Feb
A think-tank report said that there were 'systemic' problems with the standard assessment tests used at age 11, particularly in English, due to the use of open-ended essay questions. It called for the essay format to be replaced by multiple-choice tests, in order to provide a far more accurate and reliable picture of how well pupils and schools were performing, as well as being far cheaper and quicker to mark.
Source: Tom Burkard, Ticking the Right Boxes: A reliable, faster and cheaper alternative to SATs, Centre for Policy Studies (020 7222 4488)
Links: Report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jan
The government published tables giving school-level information on the achievement of students in secondary schools, and on students of sixth-form age in secondary schools and further education sector colleges, in England in 2008. 471 schools were below the government's 'floor target' for exam results.
Source: The 2008 Secondary School (Key Stage 4, GCSE and equivalents) Achievement and Attainment Tables, Department for Children, Schools and Families (web publication only) | The 2008 School and College (Post-16) Achievement and Attainment Tables, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Tables | DCSF press release | NUT press release | NASUWT press release | ATL press release | Voice press release | ISC press release | BBC report | Telegraph report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2009-Jan
