Should we scrap GCSEs?
The Briefing Room
BBC
4.8 • 731 Ratings
🗓️ 14 February 2019
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Conservative chairman of the Education Select Committee called GCSEs 'pointless' and said they should be abolished. David Aaronovitch asks if it is time for the exam system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to be completely overhauled.
GUESTS
Sandra Leaton Gray Associate Professor in Education at University College London’s Institute of Education Laura McInerney, former editor of Schools Week and education writer Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Sir Mike Tomlinson, former Chief Inspector for Ofsted Lord Baker, former Education Secretary who brought in GCSEs Peter Mandler, cultural historian at Cambridge University
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.4 | Welcome to the briefing room with me, David O'Ronovich. The idea is that we take one of |
| 0:16.3 | those issues you feel you need to know about, bring together some of the top minds on the subject, |
| 0:21.5 | and take 28 minutes to get briefed up on it. |
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| 0:34.9 | And thanks to those of you who have left reviews lately, especially |
| 0:38.2 | Billy Bob, Billy, Scraggy Goat and RPL Box. People with actual names are also welcome. |
| 0:45.6 | Our question today, is it time for the school examination system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland |
| 0:50.9 | to be completely overhauled. |
| 0:59.0 | And if you enjoy this podcast, you might enjoy other editions of the briefing room, which are all available on BBC Sounds. |
| 1:06.0 | Earlier this week, the Conservative chairman of the Education Select Committee |
| 1:14.6 | said that the GCSE exam, for which more than a million children in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, are presently studying, |
| 1:22.6 | should be abolished because they have become, his word, pointless. |
| 1:29.4 | The leader of the head teachers' union agreed, |
| 1:32.4 | saying that the exams belonged to a different era. |
| 1:36.0 | It's an idea which is raised periodically, |
| 1:38.9 | but has been gaining more support recently. |
| 1:41.9 | So this week we're asking, |
| 1:43.9 | should GCSEs be scrapped? Step inside |
| 1:47.6 | the briefing room to find out. First in our quest for understanding, how did we |
| 1:54.8 | end up with the GCSE system and who decided that 16 was the right age to test skills and |
... |
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