Curriculum and assessment reform gone wrong: the perfect storm of GCSE English

Abstract

Curriculum and its associated assessment are at the heart of educational systems worldwide. In light of perceived national educational stagnation or decline, as well as of performance in international league tables such as Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), countries have embarked on curriculum and assessment reforms. This is particularly true in England, where currently wholesale changes are being introduced throughout the system. The curriculum and qualification system in England privileges that which is tested over any other expression of knowledge, which leads teachers to concentrate on teaching what is assessed, either externally through examination papers or internally through coursework. In the summer of 2012, following curriculum and assessment reforms to General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) qualifications, serious concerns were raised about the marking and awarding processes for GCSE English, culminating in legal action. Using that experience as an example of assessment policy and practice gone awry, this article explores the ramifications of rapid qualifications changes and posits that some of the problems that plagued GCSE English in 2012 could be repeated, albeit in different guises, after revised qualifications are introduced in 2015.

Keywords:

• GCSE
• English
• assessment
• curriculum
• qualifications
• education reform

Notes

1. The Welsh Assembly ordered the awarding body for Wales, WJEC, to regrade all of its candidates who lived in Wales, which meant that with the same raw marks a student living in Cardiff might have got a C, while one living in Carlisle could have got a D.

2. Because I worked for QCA and then Ofqual as head of the 14-19 Team and head of the 14-19 regulation, respectively, some of the following account is from first-hand experience rather than published papers.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tina Isaacs

Tina Isaacs is a senior lecturer at the Institute of Education. She is the programme director for the MA in Educational Assessment and a Director at the Institute's Centre for Post-14 Research and Innovation. Tina returned to higher education in November 2009, before which she worked for 16 years at the National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ), the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) specialising in 14-19 qualifications development, implementation, accreditation and monitoring.