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Changes post-16

Zoe Thomas

February 2014

UPDATED - this information is correct as of 10 January 2014

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Changes to A-levels

• Changes to AS and A-levels• UCAS• Reformed GCSEs in English and Maths• Core Maths• Tech Levels and Applied Generals

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A-levels: Reformed qualifications overview

A-levels are being reformed in a staged approach

Outcome of A-level consultation review panel (Prof Mark Smith/Awarding Bodies) – expected end of March 2014.

• For first teaching September 2015– English Language, English Literature, English Language and Literature, the

sciences, History, Psychology, Art and Design, Sociology, Business Studies, Economics and Computing.

• For first teaching September 2016– Geography, Mathematics and Further Mathematics and Languages will be

reformed for first teaching in September 2016.

• JCQ review on A-level MFL – report expected in spring. Focus on low take-up and low proportion of A*s

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A-levels: Changes to AS and A-levels

• New AS levels– Will remain at the same standard.– Will be standalone qualifications and won’t count towards the A-level grade.– AS levels designed to be co-taught with the first year of A-level.– Their key purpose will be to encourage curriculum breadth with a linear and a more

synoptic assessment. – May be assessed after one year or two years.

• New A-levels– Will be fully linear with more synoptic assessment.– Will have linear assessment at the end of the 2 year course (June only).– Coursework can be completed at any time during the course but can only be

presented for assessment in June.

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A-level reform

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• Coursework only where “necessary to assess required skills” and fixed at 20% for English, History and Computer Science. No coursework in AS qualifications.

• AS wholly exam (apart from Art and Design – all non-exam)

• A-level subjects (80-100% exam) – max 3 components and min 5/6 hours’ external assessment

• AS subjects (80-100% exam) – max 2 components and min 3 hours’ external assessment

• Art & Design – proposal of 15 hours’ sustained focused work, with papers given 1 February to allow for prep time.

• Science: assessment of practical skills• Sciences and Psychology – separate appendix listing the maths skills relevant to

subject and exemplar guidance on how this can be embedded.• Economics/Business – maths skills demonstration in exams.• Computer Science – to be confirmed re testing of maths skills.

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GCSEs: New English Language subject content

• New GCSE English Language– Will encourage students to read a greater range of high quality, challenging

literature and non-fiction texts from a range of genres and types (from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries).

– Reading and writing will be equally weighted.– Will have a greater focus on making sure that students are able to write clearly

and accurately, in good standard English. There will be an increased emphasis on spelling, punctuation and grammar including the use of vocabulary.

– Tiers will be removed which means that specifications and question papers will have to cover the full range of abilities.

– Speaking and Listening will be assessed through endorsement (this change is being introduced to exams from summer 2014).  There will be a bigger emphasis on teaching students to become more confident in formal speaking.

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GCSEs: New English Literature subject content

• New GCSE English Literature– Will encourage students to read a wide range of classic literature fluently with

the assessment of a 19th century novel, a Shakespeare play, a selection of poetry since 1789 including representative romantic poems and British fiction or drama from 1914 onwards.

– Tiers will be removed which means that specifications and question papers will have to cover the full range of abilities.

– There will be increased assessment of unseen texts.– The quality of writing in the response to texts will be assessed.

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GCSEs: New Mathematics subject content

• Summary of changes to new Mathematics– The Maths GCSE will be more demanding with additional content, greater

assessment and an anticipation that schools will need to increase the time spent teaching.

– The subject content will be split into three groups:

• content that all students should master (this is the biggest group)

• content that should be taught but higher achieving students should master

• content that will be taught only to higher achieving students and mastered by the highest

achievers (those likely to go on to A-level study in maths).

– There will be more focus on making sure that every student masters the fundamentals of maths. These have been defined by the DfE as areas such as calculation, ratio and proportion.

– The assessment objectives will place more emphasis on reasoning and problem solving. Multi-step questions are more likely.

– The tiering structure will remain the same, with an overlap between the tiers at grades 4 and 5. This means that the Foundation tier will cover grades 1 to 5 and the Higher tier will cover grades 4 to 9.

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UCAS

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• Challenge of a greater divergence in qualifications to be offered in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

• Revised tariff – simpler allocation of points/consistent application by grade allocation across qualifications. Announcements to follow.

• Likely to be reduction in value of new AS – 40%, but EPQ to remain at 50%.

• More information regarding priority qualifications on UCAS website.

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Update: Level 3 Core Maths qualification

The Department for Education (DfE) has announced plans for new maths qualifications for 16 - 18

year olds. The key information is:

• 'core' maths will be available widely from September 2015 and will suit students who achieve an

A* to C in GCSE maths but do not wish to study AS or A-level maths

• they will be level 3 qualifications accredited by Ofqual, taken over two years and be no more

than half the size of an A level

• they will complement a wide range of current post-16 qualifications, including non-maths AS and

A-levels, and will also count as the maths element of the new Tech Bacc

• they will be graded pass, merit, distinction and the assessment will be mainly by end of course

examination

• the qualifications will include content from the new GCSE maths higher tier and will develop

students' problem-solving skills needed for further study and/or future employment

• from 2014 the DfE will fund schools and colleges in teaching trials to develop approaches to

delivering and teaching these qualifications

• the DfE are also funding a Core Maths Support Programme to help schools and colleges to

introduce new qualifications, for example by sharing effective teaching and providing support for

the professional development of teachers and lecturers

• the DfE is consulting on a new 16 to 19 performance measure which will show the proportion of

students who achieve level 3 maths qualifications.

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New Level 3 vocational qualifications

Applied Generals• Provide broad study of vocational area without being limited to a specific occupation• Require the official backing of three universities

Tech Levels• Lead to a recognised occupation• Require public support from professional bodies or from five employers registered

with Companies House

Tech BaccApplies to students with one or more Tech Levels, plus a Level 3 maths qualification plus an EPQ.

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Activity

1. What are the possible training and developmental issues which these reforms create?

2. What are the advantages and possible pitfalls of operating the AS and A level qualifications alongside each other from a student point of view?

3. What are the advantages and possible pitfalls of operating the AS and A level qualifications alongside each other from a results point of view?

4. How do we as school leaders support middle leaders in implementing these changes at ground level?

5. What timelines for change need to be put into place in our academies? 6. What is the impact of the maths reforms across subjects and how might

this affect staffing, training and/ or curriculum?

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Any questions?