The Reform report, Core business, finds that England is almost unique among major developed countries in its narrowness of academic study at age 16. 16-year-olds in England must sit exams only in English and maths. In eight of the ten biggest developed economies, 16 year olds must sit four, five or six academic qualifications. The idea that a large proportion of the population cannot cope with academic study is a very British prejudice that simply does not exist in competitor countries.
Academic qualifications are now much more valuable to students than their vocational equivalents. Research shows that successful study of GCSEs adds 15 per cent to average earnings, while vocational qualifications deliver no benefit at all. But 25 years of education policy, under successive governments, have pushed English children towards vocational learning, despite this evidence and despite the repeated failure to introduce robust vocational qualifications.
The report includes new analysis by leading English, maths and science academics comparing the standard of academic GCSEs with equivalent qualifications in Canada, Germany, France, Japan and the United States. It finds that while English GCSE is of a comparable standard, England’s maths and science exams suffer from “a clear aversion to academic rigour”, showing “a noticeable intellectual deficiency” compared to other countries. Countries such as France and Germany have been strengthening the academic core of their curriculum.
The Government’s “pupil guarantee”, to be introduced in the new Children, Schools and Families Bill, misses the point. Students need core academic study of a guaranteed breadth and depth rather than the broad pledges on behaviour and choice of vocational study in the new legislation.
The next Government must propose three key reforms. Every 14-16 year-old should study a strong academic core consisting of English, maths and three other academic subjects from the sciences, languages, history and geography. University academics and school Heads of Department must take control of GCSE standards from Ofqual and the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA). The Government should stop asserting the false equivalence between academic and vocational qualifications.
Reform’s report will be launched at an event on Tuesday 1 December to be addressed by Michael Gove MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.
The report’s key findings are:
School league tables should be changed to measure attainment only in the academic core. This will ensure that, while pupils retain the opportunity to pursue vocational or practical options alongside, there will no longer be an incentive for schools to encourage them to do so at the expense of academic education.
70 per cent of elite graduates on the Teach First scheme feel that their school encouraged pupils to choose courses that would benefit the school not the pupil.
Academic qualifications improve general economic growth by enabling people to move between occupations. In contrast, vocational qualifications lead to occupational segregation, where different people become concentrated in different jobs, irrespective of their actual abilities.
Policymakers have made attempt after attempt to create effective pre-16 vocational routes despite their repeated failure. Schools are incentivised to push students into these routes due to league table “equivalence”.
Only 0.2 per cent of individuals progress from non-academic routes into higher education.
The Government has attempted to compensate for the academic deficiency with “functional skills”, saying that these should be “at the heart of the 14-19 phase”. But these are designed to provide everyday competencies in numeracy, literacy and ICT and lack academic rigour. Ofqual anticipates the highest tier of functional skills in maths to be equivalent to the expected average attainment of a 14 year old.
Dale Bassett, Senior Researcher at Reform, said: “For three decades governments have pushed more and more school children into poor quality vocational routes, on the unfounded assumption that they just can’t handle academic study. Other countries understand that only a strong academic core can help social mobility and guarantee our future economic success. It’s time for England to catch up.”
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