Coursework May Be Scrapped

Tue, April 18, 2006

Source: Teaching Times

Coursework for GCSE and A-Level subjects could be scrapped within four years, according to Ken Boston, chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

Coursework for GCSE and A-Level subjects could be scrapped within four years, according to Ken Boston, chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.
 
His comments follow a review of coursework in 2005*, which highlighted a need to strengthen the present arrangements of establishing that written work was the candidate’s own. It followed a rise in cheating and internet plagiarism.

Last year 3,600 teenagers were caught breaching the rules - a nine per cent rise on the previous year.

The initial review was ordered by Education Secretary, Ruth Kelly, in November last year, who said at the time: “I look to the QCA to ensure that where malpractice is discovered the appropriate sanctions are rigorously enforced. It is fundamental to (the QCA’s) role as regulator to sustain public confidence in our national qualifications, including those containing coursework.”

In an interview with the Times Educational Supplement in March 2006, Mr Boston said coursework would only be kept in subjects where it was the most reliable way of ranking pupils, and in those cases, schools would no longer be able to choose whether pupils did it. It would either be compulsory or unavailable.

“Coursework has clear education benefits, but carries some risk,” he said. “In many areas of the curriculum, coursework is the only and the best way to assess. But in others, it is not.”

The move would put an end to 20 years of coursework being an important contributing portion to final GCSEs and A-level grades, heralding a return to exam-only subjects.

At GCSE level, coursework currently accounts for between 20 and 60 per cent of the overall grade, while at A-level it can be from anywhere between zero and 60 per cent, for subjects like art and design.

Commenting on the coursework issue, Steve Sinnott, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: “Teachers right across the country will welcome tightening up the procedures.”

Shadow education minister, Mark Hoban, said the increasing reliance on coursework was leading to more cheating and undermining standards. “We proposed at the last election that the proportion of assessment based on coursework should be reduced, and we welcome signs the government is now accepting that greater rigour is needed.”

 Coursework has clear education benefits, but carries some risk 

The last time coursework was changed was in 1993, when the then Conservative Prime Minister, John Major, ordered exam boards to axe the 100-per-cent coursework GCSE in English following complaints of it being too easy by critics. Ken Boston’s latest comments could mean abolishing coursework altogether for subjects like English Literature, although it is more likely that subjects like the maths GCSE would revert to an exam-only qualification.

*The review in 2005 concluded that the benefits of coursework generally outweighed the drawbacks. However, a number of areas were identified as needing improvement:

Teachers need to be confident that the coursework they mark is the candidate's own work.

Teachers and parents can offer too much help and advice to candidates. Clearer guidelines explaining the limits of permitted help and advice need to be issued.

Teachers, examining centres and candidates need to fully understand the penalties for deliberate or inadvertent malpractice.

Teachers and examining centres need to ensure there is effective internal standardisation of marks awarded for coursework.

Subject criteria for all qualifications need to be reviewed, to decide in each case whether coursework is necessary for proper assessment.

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