There are no plans to axe GCSEs after the Covid crisis, schools minister Nick Gibb has told the Education Select Committee – the TES reports.
The long-serving minister said he disagrees “wholeheartedly” with those who think GCSEs should be phased out, calling them the “gold standard” qualification.
His comments come amid a groundswell of support for GCSE reform from Rethinking Assessment – a broad coalition of schools, universities, academics and employers. A number of leading independent schools have backed the campaign, including Bedales School in Hampshire.
In November, Dame Alison Peacock, chief executive of the Chartered College of Teaching, told an event: “There’s a real consensus beginning to build that potentially we don’t need GCSEs any more.”
At this week’s committee hearing, David Johnston, Conservative MP for Wantage, asked: “We’ve got a lot more questions about the detail of this year but a concern I have is that some people are using the past two years of no exams to suggest that actually now’s the time to not use exams and to use teacher assessment at least at GCSE, which I think would be bad for the poorest children most of all.
“Can you just confirm there’s no planning in the department that this could become a permanent fixture of how we assess children and young people?”
Mr Gibb said: “I think GCSEs are an excellent way of making sure students cover a broad and balanced curriculum, those GCSE specifications are well structured. They are a gold-standard qualification in Britain and internationally, and I disagree wholeheartedly with those that say that GCSEs have had their day.”