Blog posts for tag:Schools

This year saw a transition for GCSE Level qualifications, with a focus on end point examination, (removing the earlier ‘January series’ re-sit & modular examinations). Last week, thousands of teens received their all-important results and overall, the 2014 results show a 98.5% pass rate, down 0.3 percentage points (but with a rise in students receiving A*s). While some subjects, such as ICT, Computing and Business Studies recorded significant growth, the number of English entries dropped by more than 215,000. Among 15-year-olds, the number of maths entries dropped by 76 per cent, from 170,357 down to 39,292.

A Level results day – the countdown is on and nerves are running high. In just a few days, thousands of young people across the country will be either celebrating or commiserating as they open that all-important envelope. Eyes awash with tears of relief, of joy, of disappointment. But what happens if the results that they’re clutching aren’t quite what they’re expecting? What next? A recent piece of research conducted by Which? University revealed that more than half of students in England and Wales have no back-up plan if they fail to get the grades they need to get to their university of choice. What’s more, almost three-quarters of applicants (70%) have not researched the clearing process for unfilled degree places (as reported by the BBC).

In amongst the range of announcements made over the past month was a major ‘launch’ from the Department for Education, who finalised their technical guidance for Vocational Qualifications which would contribute to performance tables at Key Stage 4. Rather confusingly, qualifications that meet these requirements will be known as ‘Technical Awards’, different to already-announced ‘Technical Levels’, (which are vocational qualifications that contribute to performance tables for 16-18 year old learners).

Recent studies show that teachers in Britain are faced with longer working hours outside the classroom than the majority of teachers around the world. On average they work 46 hours a week, but only 20 of them are spent in the classroom (according to the latest ‘Teacher and Learning International Survey). It’s clear that although teachers love their profession, the workload is unmanageable and the accountability systems cause unnecessary pressure and they are underpaid for the work they do.  Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers

Sec Ed have reported this week that the narrow focus on academia promoted by performance measures and Government policy could be ‘actively harming’ young people’s health and wellbeing. The article calls for PSHE to be made a statutory subject and for “health education” to be integrated into the wider curriculum. The academic group argues that education policy is increasingly encouraging schools to maximise academic attainment at the cost of children’s wellbeing.

The length of summer holidays in England is at the centre of an ongoing debate, with many valid points being made both for and against the holidays being reduced. From September 2014, state schools will be given the same power as academies, voluntary-aided and free schools in England and will be able to change the length of their school year. Headteachers are amongst those who appears to be encouraging the change to the summer break to ease the pressure on teachers. The NAHT union has proposed allocating more holidays throughout the year to replace the long summer break, which is being described as “the most significant move so far towards altering school terms on a widespread scale”.

Employability is still a hot topic in the education sector as the jobs market remains tough and competitive. Much of the focus is on how prepared learners are for job applications and interviews from school onwards. The first step in any job application is writing the perfect CV. Many young people feel they are not prepared for this due to the exclusion of employability and preparation for life and work modules in mandatory school curriculums.

The wait is over, the discount (classification) codes for qualifications that will count in the 2014 Key Stage 4 Performance tables have now been published. We know from speaking with many of you that the publication of discount code information is really important to you so for ease, we’ve listed the V Cert discount codes for the next 3 years on our website. You can also find the full list of all codes for the 2014, 2015 and 2016 tables together with guidance by visiting the RAISEonline website.

It’s been reported that A-levels and GCSEs in arts subjects in England, including music, drama, art and dance, are set to be made more "rigorous and demanding". The tougher exams will come into play from September 2016 as part of the Government's programme of exam reform. GCSEs in history, geography, sciences and modern languages are also being revised to bring them into line with English literature, English language and maths.

3 in 10 senior members of staff in schools are planning to leave according to recent workload figures. The official figures show that head teachers are working on average 63 hours a week with 82% of staff claiming their workload has increased since last year.