Exams versus course work

I note that the education debate has taken on a new tone. Having seen adjustments to OFSTED criteria, the curriculum, and of course the introduction of the national funding formula, it would seem that the latest target for Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, is the exam system.

No surprises there then, as the not-so-new broom makes a clean sweep of it.

I am an ardent lover of exams, yes, really. Show me a subject, tell me what I need to learn and just let me get on with it.

With this in mind, I may well be a lone voice of assent in response to this week’s announcement that there is to be an overhaul of qualifications in the core subjects. With a renewed emphasis on traditional subject knowledge, it is deemed better to prepare pupils for the demands of sixth-form, university and beyond.   

I am particularly delighted that there is to be an increased focus on spelling, punctuation and grammar. It will certainly restore my “public confidence” in the exams system.

Whilst MG has been accused of plunging schools into chaos again, with “more challenging, ambitious and rigorous” end of course exams, and the abolition of course work, I applaud the changes. As a teacher and employer I constantly despair at the lack of core skills, which for me are the backbone of future learning.  

However, there is one very important caveat. As a middle aged woman who was put through the rigours of the old ‘O’ level system I have to accept that not everyone responds to exams in the same way. Personally, I loathe having to spend hours on course work.

I see evidence of this regularly with a wide mix of students, some of whom spend hours compiling course work portfolios, many of whom I constantly have to chase, along with those who are visibly nervous at having their skills and knowledge tested through the more traditional exam system. We must accept that everyone learns in a different way. There is supposed to be increased focus on ‘differentiation’ in terms of how we are taught new skills, but when it comes to proving what has been learnt it all seems to go out of the window.

Personally I am ambivalent about what method is used to evidence learning, as long as it is rigorous, and that expectations are clear up front.

Many is the time I’ve been teaching a subject only to find the goal posts have been changed half way through. Now that is annoying.

Some of us like exams, some of us don’t. There must surely be room for both, when all we want are intelligent, articulate adults fit for a place in our increasingly demanding society.