Should we really consider scrapping GCSEs?

Analysis: The Education Committee chair has called for the exams currently taken by 16-year-olds to be abolished. So, is it time for a radical overhaul of the English system? Eleanor Busby looks at the pros and cons

GCSEs remain the mainstay of secondary education (Rex)

Senior Conservative MP Robert Halfon, who chairs the Education Committee, has become the latest leading figure in the sector to call for GCSEs to be scrapped.

He argues that the qualifications for 16-year-olds are now “pointless” and suggests that abolishing GCSEs and replacing A-levels with a broader mix of academic and vocational subjects would give young people more relevant skills for the workplace.

The call for the exams to be ditched is not an original plea. But what is significant is that it comes from a Tory, and a former skills minister at that.

What’s more, its timing, right in the middle of Michael Gove’s exam reforms, suggests the government has wasted a great deal of taxpayers’ money on the new GCSEs, which began to be introduced in 2017.

The elevation of vocational qualifications in secondary school, in a bid to reduce the skills shortages that employers evidently face, is not the only argument in favour of GCSEs’ abolition.

For one thing, young people are now expected to remain in full-time education or training until the age of 18 – so the original purpose of GCSEs as an end-of-schooling certification is no longer valid.

Now they are just used by schools, colleges and employers (and youngsters themselves) to decide the appropriate path for further study.

Yet despite the arguably diminished importance of GCSEs to students themselves, they still matter to schools. They are held to account by the government and Ofsted on the results of these exams, which means a lot of focus in secondary schools is GCSE preparation.

This has led to the qualifications being taught over more than two years in many cases – with some teachers focusing on rote learning, and teaching to the test, to ensure everything gets covered.

It is no secret that an increasing number of young people are suffering from mental health problems, and two high-stakes exams over two years is likely to increase the pressure on these vulnerable youngsters.

However, the scrapping of GCSEs would make it harder to judge the achievements of the schools across England that do not have sixth forms. Meanwhile, schools that do have sixth forms may struggle to decide which students should be admitted onto certain A-level courses.

It would also become more difficult for parents to decide which secondary school to choose for their child if there was a lack of hard data about attainment outcomes at the age of 16.

In any event, it is very unlikely that the government will give the green light to any more reforms. The current education secretary Damian Hinds, in his bid to tackle workload, last year promised teachers that there would not be any new tests or exams, or changes to the national curriculum, for another four years.

Over recent years, secondary school teachers have had to implement major reforms to both GCSEs and A-levels following Gove’s decision to overhaul the system. Explaining the new grading system for the GCSEs has already cost the government more than half a million pounds of public money.

Lord Baker, who brought in GCSEs in the 1980s, believes the exams are now “redundant”. But he has also acknowledged that “they won’t go quietly” as the government will not want radical change.

So unless the pressure grows significantly, it is likely that GCSEs will stay.