Andy Millar:


I believe very very strongly that schools should be broadening your knowledge, not narrowing it for some adults' idea of a possible 9-5 job for you - when your idea or the job itself might change completely after a few years anyway! Also, GCSEs are a fantastic "taster" for finding a whole range of things which you (or particularly your parents) might not have dreamed could become a life long interest, whether in work or not. Hence the fact that I encouraged my children to do as many as possible. The actual GCSE qualification is pretty much irrelevant for anything except one thing (see below), it's the new insight that you get on the way that's important.

It's an interesting theory although it's not unique to you. Should schools move away from qualifications towards education? There are certainly plenty of people who believe that English language, mathematics, and a handful of other subjects such as science and possibly foreign languages should be examined leading to a qualification and the rest are purely educational. The problem is the way in which state schools are organised. Independent schools often teach foundation studies in subjects outside of the curriculum which are not examined but it's not possible for state schools to teach them. GCSEs serve a dual purpose in state schools: a qualification for the students and a metric of the quality of teaching. In effect, teachers have to prove to the taxpayers that they are worth their salary. This helps to explain why ICT is an examined subject leading to a GCSE rather than just taught as an unexamined life skill.


I'm a bit dubious about your use of the word "taster" because state schools operate a system of coercion where students have to turn up to lessons; have to put effort into the subject; have to do their homework, or else they get a rollocking. This partially goes back to GCSEs being a metric of the quality of teaching so teachers fear that lackadaisical students, who may well be just using the subject as a taster and couldn't care less if they got a U grade, will cost them their job. It can also be hard for students to drop certain subjects that they have found out that they do not like by Y9 and have no interest in or are no good at. GCSE options are a shadow of what they once were because almost everything is now compulsory.

Andy Millar:


I believe very very strongly that schools should be broadening your knowledge, not narrowing it for some adults' idea of a possible 9-5 job for you - when your idea or the job itself might change completely after a few years anyway! Also, GCSEs are a fantastic "taster" for finding a whole range of things which you (or particularly your parents) might not have dreamed could become a life long interest, whether in work or not. Hence the fact that I encouraged my children to do as many as possible. The actual GCSE qualification is pretty much irrelevant for anything except one thing (see below), it's the new insight that you get on the way that's important.

It's an interesting theory although it's not unique to you. Should schools move away from qualifications towards education? There are certainly plenty of people who believe that English language, mathematics, and a handful of other subjects such as science and possibly foreign languages should be examined leading to a qualification and the rest are purely educational. The problem is the way in which state schools are organised. Independent schools often teach foundation studies in subjects outside of the curriculum which are not examined but it's not possible for state schools to teach them. GCSEs serve a dual purpose in state schools: a qualification for the students and a metric of the quality of teaching. In effect, teachers have to prove to the taxpayers that they are worth their salary. This helps to explain why ICT is an examined subject leading to a GCSE rather than just taught as an unexamined life skill.


I'm a bit dubious about your use of the word "taster" because state schools operate a system of coercion where students have to turn up to lessons; have to put effort into the subject; have to do their homework, or else they get a rollocking. This partially goes back to GCSEs being a metric of the quality of teaching so teachers fear that lackadaisical students, who may well be just using the subject as a taster and couldn't care less if they got a U grade, will cost them their job. It can also be hard for students to drop certain subjects that they have found out that they do not like by Y9 and have no interest in or are no good at. GCSE options are a shadow of what they once were because almost everything is now compulsory.