The exams, used by a growing number of independent schools, have not previously been approved for maintained schools.

Ministers also said they would not be going ahead with three academic diplomas planned for 2011.

The ATL teachers’ union described the coalition government’s changes as “neanderthal”.

Diplomas in science, languages and humanities had been planned to add academic rigour into the vocational qualifications, which have had a shaky start since their introduction in 2008.

By offering the part-practical, part-theoretical qualifications in academic subjects as well as more vocational ones, the former Labour administration had hoped to make the diploma more attractive to academically brighter pupils.

Continue reading the main story
Schools must be given greater freedom to offer the qualifications employers and universities demand

Nick Gibb
Schools Minister
Former children’s secretary Ed Balls had said he wanted diplomas to become the qualification of choice.

But this move by the new government leaves a question mark hanging over the qualification which has already struggled to make headway against A-levels and GCSEs.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said it would save £1.77m, with further savings ahead.

But he suggested the changes to exams were driven by ideological rather than financial concerns.

“After years of political control over our exams system, schools must be given greater freedom to offer the qualifications employers and universities demand, and that properly prepare pupils for life, work and further study,” he said.

“For too long, children in state maintained schools have been unfairly denied the right to study for qualifications like the IGCSE, which has only served to widen the already vast divide between state and independent schools in this country.

“By removing the red tape, state school pupils will have the opportunity to leave school with the same set of qualifications as their peers from the top private schools – allowing them to better compete for university places and for the best jobs.”

Old O-levels
He said it was not for government to decide which qualifications pupils should take or to develop new ones.

This was why he was “stopping development of the state-led ‘academic diploma’ in humanities, sciences and languages from today”, he said.

“Instead, we will devote our efforts to making sure our existing qualifications are rigorous, challenging and properly prepare our young people for life, work and study,” he added.

State schools would not get extra money to teach the IGCSEs, but could use their existing budgets to offer them.

The IGCSEs resemble the old O-levels, with more essay-based questions. They are popular with those who have concerns about regular GCSEs lacking in challenge for brighter pupils.

Mr Gibb also said he would allow IGCSE results to be included in school performance tables as soon as possible.

Good grounding
A number of top performing secondaries had expressed an interest in offering these exams, the Department for Education said.

And some independent schools have stopped offering regular GCSEs altogether.

On the primary curriculum, Mr Gibb said: “A move away from teaching traditional subjects like history and geography could have led to an unacceptable erosion of standards in our primary schools.

“Instead, teachers need a curriculum which helps them ensure that every child has a firm grasp of the basics and a good grounding in general knowledge, free from unnecessary prescription and bureaucracy.

“It is vital that we return our curriculum to its intended purpose – a minimum national entitlement organised around subject disciplines.”

Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Dr John Dunford said the current diploma structure was far too complicated and did need simplification.

Pupil premium
“Many school leaders have put considerable time and effort into preparing for these diplomas and will be disappointed that they are being abandoned before a full review takes place.”

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers called the changes “neanderthal”, adding, “education in England remained locked in the 19th Century and out of step with the rest of the world”.

Education Secretary Michael Gove announced further details of the £670m in budget cuts planned for his department.

On top of those savings he has already announced, Mr Gove said he was scrapping the proposed extension of pilots of free school meals for primary schools, saving £125m.

Scrapping the new primary curriculum would save £7m

And he confirmed that extra money would be made available outside the DfE’s budget to pay for a “pupil premium” – money which follows poorer pupils. But he did not say how much would be invested.

The premium was a key plank of the coalition government’s agreement.

Page last updated at 16:09 GMT, Monday, 7 June 2010 17:09 UK

BBC News education reporter

By Hannah Richardson

An Education Bill will be outlined in the Queen’s Speech on 25 May.

Top priorities are expected to be paving the way for more schools to become academies and for parents and other groups to set up schools.

Liberal Democrat Sarah Teather and the Conservative Nick Gibb have been named as ministers.

Ms Teather will take on responsibility for children and Nick Gibb will be Schools Minister.

Michael Gove, the new Education Secretary, had pledged in the run-up to the election that a Conservative government would give schools judged to be “outstanding” by Ofsted inspectors an automatic right to become academies.

Academies are state-funded schools which are semi-independent.

His intention had been to legislate quickly so that schools could opt to become academies in September.

Free schools
He had also said primary schools would be allowed to convert to academy status and that the aim was for all schools to have that right.

Failing schools, which had been in special measures for more than a year, would be re-opened as academies in September 2011, Mr Gove had previously pledged.

Besides the academies, another force for change in the system will be steps to make it easier for parents, teachers and other groups to set up their own schools.

Both policies embody the Conservative philosophy of letting good schools have more freedom from local authority control – the so-called “free schools” agenda.

But the Liberal Democrats are traditionally in favour of schools being held accountable locally.

The coalition agreement between the parties stated simply that both sides agreed to promote the reform of schools so that “new providers can enter the state system in response to parental demand; that all schools have greater freedom over the curriculum and that all schools are held properly accountable”.

Watering down
In a letter sent to staff at the Department of Education setting out his priorities, Mr Gove did not mention the academy programme by name.

Instead, he said the government wanted to offer all schools “the chance to enjoy academy-style freedoms so that heads and teachers across the country can be liberated”.

Whether there has been any watering down of Conservative commitments in this area remains to be seen but appears unlikely.

A recent small survey by the Times Educational Supplement suggested there was enthusiasm for the academy plans among some head teachers.

Among 27 secondary schools selected at random, seven gave a definite “yes”, while 11 said “maybe”, the TES reported.

Teaching unions have, as a group, been very critical of the free schools policy, warning that it risks causing chaos at a local level (NUT) and dismantling state education (NASUWT).

The general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders John Dunford had described it as a “corner-shop system” under which the poor would suffer.
By Angela Harrison
Education correspondent, BBC News

UK education policy in the general election 2010: Key issues, the latest news and Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative education policy overview.

Key education issues

Improving literacy and numeracy rates, overhauling the National Curriculum, expanding school places and the testing of primary pupils are all hot topics.

Party education policy:

• Labour
• Conservative
• Liberal Democrat

Have your say:

• Education debates – Debate2010

Latest education policy news

02 May 2010: Student tuition fees could rise as high as £14,000 a year under plans to allow universities to charge the full cost of a degree.

30 Apr 2010: A Labour pledge to provide one-to-one tuition for thousands of schoolchildren risks being undermined by staff shortages.

30 Apr 2010: More than £61,000 has been “wasted” promoting ContactPoint, Labour’s controversial children’s database.

29 Apr 2010: Political meddling has undermined standards in A-levels and GCSEs, according to a leading examiner.

28 Apr 2010: Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, has called for governors to scupper a planned boycott of Sats tests just days after the general election.

28 Apr 2010: Cambridge University admitted fewer state school students last year, despite a high-profile Government drive to broaden access to the institution.

28 Apr 2010: Private schools are being “suffocated” by excessive red tape, according to a leading headmaster.

26 Apr 2010: Leading head teachers and governors have backed Conservative plans to allow high-performing state schools to break free of local council control.

26 Apr 2010: Parental background has a bigger impact on children’s education achievement in England than in many other developed nations, despite 12 years of Labour, according to a report.

21 Apr 2010: Headteachers’ leaders have confirmed plans for a potentially damaging boycott of Sats exams in England just days after the general election.

17 Apr 2010: The schoolboy who made a name for himself challenging politicians live on television has described himself as “a child of Blair” – but said he would not vote for Labour if given the chance.

08 Apr 2010: David Cameron has revealed how Tory plans for new-style “national service” for young people was inspired by his days at Eton College.

08 Apr 2010: The incoming Government should consider cutting benefits for young people failing to take up an education or training place to reduce the number of “Neets“.

07 Apr 2010: Labour’s school reforms – including guaranteed one-to-one tuition in the three-Rs and compulsory sex education – have been decimated by the Parliamentary “wash up”.

06 Apr 2010: Primary school exams – known as Sats – are promoting a culture of “teaching to the test”, according to MPs.

05 Apr 2010: The Labour government has been branded the “worst in the history of this country” by the head of the Public and Commercial Services Union, one of Britain’s biggest trade unions.

05 Apr 2010: Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, has said that teachers should use physical force to break up fights and stop unruly children disrupting sporting events.

05 Apr 2010: Schools will be forced to bear the brunt of government spending cuts if the Conservatives win power at the general election, according to Ed Balls, the Children’s Secretary.

04 Apr 2010: Plans backed by Labour and the Conservatives to create a generation of “technical colleges” will lead to the introduction of academic selection by the backdoor, according to the National Union of Teachers.

03 Apr 2010: Children are still being taught in hideously overcrowded classes after 13 years of Labour, say teaching unions.

02 Apr 2010: Teaching unions threaten all parties with a summer of discontent over proposals to freeze public sector pay and cut back on school budgets.

01 Apr 2010: Labour publish plans that will require all universities to draw up student charters – contracts guaranteeing minimum levels of support from tutors, lecture sizes, feedback on coursework and accommodation standards.

24 Mar 2010: Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, unveils plans to create 20,000 more university places to ease the higher education admissions crisis.

23 Mar 2010: The Tories have signalled the return of traditional A-levels as part of sweeping reforms designed to restore rigour to the examinations system.

23 Mar 2010: The Conservatives are facing a showdown with teaching unions over plans to introduce a generation of schools run by parents and private companies.

22 Mar 2010: Colleges are preparing to axe courses and turn away students because of a £200m funding crisis caused by Government budget cuts, it is claimed.

15 Feb 2010: George Osborne outlines a Conservative pledge to let public sector workers form “co-operatives” to take control of public services like primary education and NHS nursing.

9 Feb 2010: A generation of school-leavers has been “abandoned” by Labour, it was claimed, as a dramatic rise in university applications threatened to leave hundreds of thousands of students without places.

8 Feb 2010: Sikh schoolchildren should be allowed to wear their ceremonial daggers at all times in all public places, Britain’s first Asian judge has said

17 Jan 2010: David Cameron will pledge to restore the status of teaching as a “noble profession”, barring entry to the classroom to people with poor qualifications

Labour manifesto: education policy

Specific schools policies include:

• An expansion of free nursery places for two-year-olds and 15 hours a week of flexible, free nursery education for three and four-year-olds.
• Every child leaving primary school secure in the basics.
• Giving parents the power to bring in new school leadership teams, through mergers and takeovers, with up to 1,000 secondary schools part of an accredited schools group by 2015.
• Every young person guaranteed education or training until 18, with 75 per cent going on to higher education, or completing an advanced apprenticeship or technician level training, by the age of 30
• Spending increased on frontline Sure Start and free childcare, schools and 16-19 learning.

Full Labour manifesto: general election 2010 party policy

 

Conservative manifesto: education policy

Specific education policies include:

• Raising the entry requirement for taxpayer-funded primary teacher training
• Requiring new graduates to have at least a 2:2 in their degree to get state-funded training
• Paying the student loan repayments for top maths and science graduates while they remain teachers
• Giving teachers the strongest possible protection from false accusations
• Strengthening home-school behaviour contracts
• Establishing a simple reading test at the age of six
• Reforming the National Curriculum
• Overhauling Key Stage 2 tests and league tables
• Allowing all state schools to offer high quality international examinations
• Extra funding for children from disadvantaged backgrounds

Full Conservative manifesto: general election 2010 party policy

 

Liberal Democrat manifesto: education policy

Key education policies include:

• Providing schools with an extra £2.5bn so they can cut class sizes and offer more one-to-one tuition
• Proving a pupil premium to encourage good schools to take more children from deprived backgrounds
• Scrap tuition fees for full and part-time students
• Replace the National Curriculum with the more flexible Minimum Curriculum Entitlement
• Creating a General Diploma that combines GCSEs, A-levels and vocational qualifications

Full Liberal Democrat manifesto: general election 2010 party policy

Tutoring is most effective when students are engaged in the academic objective. In other words, when students, for whatever reason, are not performing quite as they should but want to succeed – they are hungry for academic success and will pull out all the stops over a twelve week period in the lead up to their exams.
In my experience, I have found that the actual process of tuition can inspire a student to re-commit to studying once all apparently insurmountable obstacles to understanding a particular topic have been removed. As humans, particularly young ones, we seldom admit our weaknesses and many students will resort to ‘subject avoidance’ when the underlying issue is actually ‘topic avoidance’.
Mathematics presents many cases of ‘subject avoidance’ where a student was fine with arithmetic, geometry and probability but soon developed a phobia of algebra. Algebra becomes the focus of ‘topic avoidance’ which then permeates and infects the other topics of mathematics – the result is total ‘subject avoidance’.
If you are parent reading this and suspect that your child is suffering with full blown subject avoidance, why not try and help your child identify and isolate the particular topic which is causing the frustration (there could also be ‘teacher avoidance’ at play and I will cover this theory in a later post). If there is a topic which you and your child have identified needs reiterating and teaching you can always try and coach your child yourself. However, in some cases the parent-child dynamic often obstructs well intended homemade assistance with studies and can result in further despondency and recriminations between parent and child. If you feel that this applies to you and your child then you are both part of a very large majority. In this case I advise you seek the professional help of a tutor who specialises in that subject. Check out www.hometutordirectory.co.uk for more details.

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