The thorny issue of GCSE resits has come to the fore recently, with stories of colleges and training providers having to hire out huge venues to house the numbers of students retaking the examinations.
Whilst I support the aim of ensuring learners that are able to, achieve their A-C (or 9-5) grade in GCSE maths and English, I feel that the focus on driving those learners who are unable to achieve the GCSE to retake the examination serves no purpose other than to frustrate these learners.
There seems to be willingness in government to engage in conversation around the requirement to achieve A-C grades in GCSE maths and English, at least in some occupational sectors. Only last week the Department for Education (DfE) announced that it was consulting on the requirement for early years students to have achieved A-C grades in GCSE maths and English before starting on their course, which has seen recruitment into the sector collapse.
This is a welcome move, as Julie Hyde, Associate Director of CACHE, said at the time;
“There is no doubt that the GCSE-only policy has seriously impacted on recruitment.
Reinstating Functional Skills will enable early years settings to again hire the brilliant practitioners they need, and will again allow staff to progress, and remain in the workforce. Parents and their children will directly benefit from a greater choice of high-quality care, with more providers able to deliver the 30-hour free childcare entitlement. We fully support the need for early years practitioners to have high-quality literacy and numeracy, and Functional Skills provides this.”
In my opinion this is a great opportunity for the DfE to look at the Functional Skills offer in literacy and numeracy more widely. The DfE is currently undertaking a review of these qualifications (with a view for new content to be ready for delivery in 2018); would it not be a fantastic chance for the government to see the use of a vocational alternative for GCSE maths and English as an equal ‘Gold Standard’ for those who are unable to achieve GCSEs?
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