Miranda Stephenson

Getting to know the reformed GCSEs and new National Curriculum for science

Timeline for reforms (from DfE)

New framework - consultation period (ended April)

15 questions asked, which included:Do you have any comments on the proposed aims for the National Curriculum?Do you agree that instead of detailed subject-level aims we should free teachers to shape their own curriculum aims based on the content in the programmes of study?Do you have any comments on the content (sufficiently ambitious level of challenge/effective progression/expectation of higher standards )?What impact - either positive or negative - will our proposals have on the 'protected characteristic' groups?What key factors will affect schools’ ability to implement the new National Curriculum successfully from September 2014?

Examples of our responses

Included teacher input from on-line survey, conference with alumniThe main areas of concern relate to:• The balance of content/subject knowledge

with skill development, including thinking and practical skills

• The interdisciplinary nature of science itself and with other STEM subjects.

Cont . .With more content introduced at an early stage, there is a greater risk of the introduction of misconceptions as non-specialist teachers, particularly in primary, cover unfamiliar topics. This can be addressed with appropriate professional development.

All agreed that challenge must be appropriate, and that the teachers were best placed to deliver this to the young people they teach.

Those with whom we consulted felt that the factors most likely to affect schools’ ability to implement the new National Curriculum include:• Time: 100% felt schools must have more planning time to introduce major

changes to ensure no adverse effect on provision for pupils; phasing in of changes to National Curriculum is crucial to quality of implementation.

Accountability – consultation period ended May

• 9 questions which included:• Do you agree with the proposals for the headline

accountability measures?We are extremely concerned that it is possible for schools to reach the ‘eight point score’ accountability measure with pupils studying no science at all at Key Stage 4.• Should we look to use a relative measure as the floor standard

in the first year of the new exams?

Accountability cont . .

• Are there any other measures we should consider publishing?As outlined in response to question 1, it is essential that the accountability measure is amended such that pupils must study biology, chemistry and physics – either as part of a ‘Double Science’ course or as separate sciences ‘Triple Science’ – in order for their progress to be included in a school’s eight point score.

Accountability cont . .

• Do you think we should collect and publish test data from internal assessments through the Data Warehouse?

• Do you agree that the Department should stop the collection of Key Stage 3 teacher assessment results?

• How should we ensure that achievement beyond formal qualifications is recognised?

• How can national sample tests best be introduced?

Primary

Sept 2013 – 2014Regulations make provision for the National Curriculum to be disapplied for• core subjects (maths, English and science) in years

3 and 4• all foundations subjects in Key Stages 1 & 2

Sept 2014 New curriculum to be taught in schools – for all subjects in all year groups

Secondary

Sept 2013 Disapply current PoS for all subjects at KS3 and KS4

Sept 2014 New KS3 curriculum to be taught in schools - for all year groups and subjects

Programme of Study disapplied for KS4 (continuation for this KS only)

Sept 2015 First teaching of reformed GCSEs for English, maths, science, history and geographyChanges to remaining subjects as soon as possible after this date

Highlights from government response to consultations

Confirmed 1. plans to replace foundation subject of ICT with

computing at all Key Stages2. Plans to disapply aspects of existing programmes of

study, attainment targets and statutory assessment arrangements from September for a set time

3. Levels have gone – schools to determine their own assessment protocols

New consultations• DfE http://

www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/qualifications/gcses/a00225719/gsce-consultation

• focuses on subject content• which closes on August 20th

• Ofqual• http://comment.ofqual.gov.uk/gcse-reform-june-2013• much longer and focuses on the regulatory aspects of GCSE

reform, including curriculum, assessment, grading and reporting.

• closes on 3rd September

Ofqual

Reformed GCSEs in English language, English literature, mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, science double award, geography and history - ready to be taught from September 2015 and first awarded in August 2017.The Department for Education has taken responsibility for determining the content of GCSEs in the ‘English Baccalaureate’ subjects (English, mathematics, the sciences, history, geography and languages) – see separate consultation

Ofqual cont ...

We have spoken to assessment and subject experts and come to the view that in mathematics and sciences, common exam papers could not be designed to provide valid assessments for all students. The examinations would inevitably include some questions that would be too simple and others that would be too challenging for significant numbers of students. If one exam was to be taken by all students, either the amount of assessment time would have to be increased considerably or we would have to accept a lower degree of reliability. We have therefore concluded that the advantages of an approach without differentiation are outweighed by the disadvantages.

Ofqual cont ... We have considered carefully the arguments that practical skills are so essential to the sciences that they should contribute to the GCSE grade, against the evidence we have about how the high-stakes nature of the qualifications can distort the assessments. Our proposal aims to balance these opposing views and to provide for valid assessment which reflects the full range of essential knowledge, skills and understanding and is fair to all students. Practical skills are integral to science subjects and cannot be demonstrated in written exams, although learning from undertaking science practical work can be. . . . . We therefore propose that the demonstration of science practical skills should be assessed other than by exam, marked by teachers and contribute to the overall grade.We welcome views on this.

Ofqual cont ...

We propose that for the first set of reformed GCSEs in 2016 the following minimum requirements should apply:• a minimum of 3.5 hours of exam time for subjects in which

the final grade is based on externally set and marked exams only

• a minimum of 3 hours of exam time when additional forms of assessment contribute to the final grade.

We would expect these requirements to be spread over more than one exam. The time limits will be doubled for double award science. Double award science will be the same as or similar to two current GCSEs

Ofqual cont ... Percentile scoresA variation on scaled scores is percentile scores. While a scaled score might be anything from 1 to 500 regardless of the scores of other students, a system using percentile scores would report the student’s position relative to other students entering that qualification, for example the 75th percentile. However, since the mix of students entered for different subjects varies, there would be no assurance of comparability between subjects, or between years. We know, for example, that the cohort of the separate sciences has changed over the last few years – in this situation a student might achieve different percentile scores depending on the year of entry. This would be difficult to communicate to users of the qualification. It would also require a single rank order of students across all exam boards which is considerably more difficult to achieve than comparability at grade boundaries.

Ofqual cont ... Subject Tiered Written exams Non-exam

assessmentMinimum exam time

Assessment of S, P & G*

Mathematics yes yes no 3.5 hours no

Biology, chemistry, physics

yes yes

(90%)

yes

(10%)

3 hours no

Double award science

yes yes

(90%)

yes

(10%)

6 hours no

* Spelling, Punctuation & Grammar

DfE GCSE Consultation

February: the Secretary of State announced GCSEs will be comprehensively reformed so that young people have access to qualifications which match and exceed those of the highest performing jurisdictions.

The Secretary of State also wrote to Ofqual setting out his policy for the development of new GCSEs. The letter asked Ofqual to develop revised regulatory requirements for the new qualifications with regard to that policy.

The Department for Education is now seeking views on proposed subject content and assessment objectives for new GCSEs.

DfE cont . . .

Consultation asks general and subject-specific questions concerning whether the proposed content for GCSEs represents a demanding and fulfilling course of study for students who will take the qualifications. In particular, the consultation seeks views on:• the appropriateness of subject content and assessment objectives• the relative weighting of assessment objectives• progression of subject content from earlier key stages• progression to further academic and vocational study• the impact on specific pupil groups, including ‘protected

characteristic groups’• literacy and numeracy coverage.

DfE cont . .Sciences

The science suite includes subject content and assessment objectives for separate GCSEs in biology, chemistry and physics as well as a combined science double award. The combined science double award contains an appropriate spread of essential subject content across biology, chemistry and physics, and is consistent with proposed key stage 4 national curriculum requirements. It is intended to support progression to A levels in any of the three sciences. The sciences all contain explicit requirements for application of mathematical understanding and, in physics, new expectations for the recall and application of key formulae.