If you'd like a bit of trivia that I'm likely to bring up time and time again, it's that the constituency I live in and the surrounding ones (mostly ones heading North into Kent) are the most comfortable Tory seats in the country. I hate the Conservatives. I'm a middle class white British citizen living in Sussex with siblings in private schools, and I hate the Conservatives. With fear of parroting every journalist in the world at the moment, I've always felt that the Conservatives only have interests with making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Of course, being neither, it would be safe to assume that I would remain unaffected by either of these polar ends. Sadly not.
One of the great joys of teenage life is the GCSE/A level/Early Uni years time. This is mostly what this fortnight's post is about. I had to take my Physics GCSE exam a few hours ago, and the exam barrage will get worse next year. I don't really care about taking all these exams. They're what, 50/60% of my exam? The rest is taken with coursework ('cept for my BTEC, which is of course all coursework).
But it sounds like this is going to not happen as much. Mike Gove (Gotta love that man*) is planning to change both the GCSE and A level courses. For those not in the know, he wants to lesson the pressure of coursework and rely more on the end-of-year exams. He also wants to rely more on the end of two-years for A levels, meaning fewer or even no more AS Levels. Finally, he wants to abolish the seperate exam boards and have one per subject.
What he wants is harder exams that "really challenge bright pupils" or something to that effect. This is twinned with the removal of many practical subjects, known by their BTEC Level 1/2/3 tag. A small problem with that is, walk into an average secondary school and you have pupils who are disruptive. They often aren't the "bright pupils" that Gove wants to "really challenge". Often they can't sit still through a one hour lesson, let alone a three hour exam. These are the pupils that the practical subjects were made for. If they do manage to sit through their GCSE's, they're probably going to be D's or lower. Chances are they'll wind up jobless and be a strain on the benefit system. At least with the practical subjects they can prove they have skills in something like plumbing and get work. Yes, they're not about to be accepted into Oxford with these qualifications, but it's better than nothing.
However, as a "bright pupil" (I've had my time on a Gifted + Talented register before now), I'm not mad about the removal of practical subjects. I'm angrier about the possible demise of AS levels. When I go to my sixth form, I want to take a French AS. I'm not great at French, but I want more than a GCSE in it. So many people choose to do this, in fact, that my intended sixth form rarely run the full French A level. The AS is a great way to just get a little extra in the way of languages while not over-stretching yourself. My life is roughly planned around this AS level. I wouldn't be surprised if this format copied itself around the country. The Government are forever complaining about the lack of take-up of languages by students. Are they seriously so stupid as to not realise that the loss of AS levels could mean the demise of good French, German and Spanish speakers among Brits?
Alas, when I finally calm myself down about my future, the Tories find another way to fuck it up again. Way to go, Mike. Way to go, Dave.
And Nick, don't think the £9k limit has been forgotten about.
*that was sarcasm, by the way.
One of the great joys of teenage life is the GCSE/A level/Early Uni years time. This is mostly what this fortnight's post is about. I had to take my Physics GCSE exam a few hours ago, and the exam barrage will get worse next year. I don't really care about taking all these exams. They're what, 50/60% of my exam? The rest is taken with coursework ('cept for my BTEC, which is of course all coursework).
But it sounds like this is going to not happen as much. Mike Gove (Gotta love that man*) is planning to change both the GCSE and A level courses. For those not in the know, he wants to lesson the pressure of coursework and rely more on the end-of-year exams. He also wants to rely more on the end of two-years for A levels, meaning fewer or even no more AS Levels. Finally, he wants to abolish the seperate exam boards and have one per subject.
What he wants is harder exams that "really challenge bright pupils" or something to that effect. This is twinned with the removal of many practical subjects, known by their BTEC Level 1/2/3 tag. A small problem with that is, walk into an average secondary school and you have pupils who are disruptive. They often aren't the "bright pupils" that Gove wants to "really challenge". Often they can't sit still through a one hour lesson, let alone a three hour exam. These are the pupils that the practical subjects were made for. If they do manage to sit through their GCSE's, they're probably going to be D's or lower. Chances are they'll wind up jobless and be a strain on the benefit system. At least with the practical subjects they can prove they have skills in something like plumbing and get work. Yes, they're not about to be accepted into Oxford with these qualifications, but it's better than nothing.
However, as a "bright pupil" (I've had my time on a Gifted + Talented register before now), I'm not mad about the removal of practical subjects. I'm angrier about the possible demise of AS levels. When I go to my sixth form, I want to take a French AS. I'm not great at French, but I want more than a GCSE in it. So many people choose to do this, in fact, that my intended sixth form rarely run the full French A level. The AS is a great way to just get a little extra in the way of languages while not over-stretching yourself. My life is roughly planned around this AS level. I wouldn't be surprised if this format copied itself around the country. The Government are forever complaining about the lack of take-up of languages by students. Are they seriously so stupid as to not realise that the loss of AS levels could mean the demise of good French, German and Spanish speakers among Brits?
Alas, when I finally calm myself down about my future, the Tories find another way to fuck it up again. Way to go, Mike. Way to go, Dave.
And Nick, don't think the £9k limit has been forgotten about.
*that was sarcasm, by the way.
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