Call to rethink university admissions and GCSEs – Magnus in Telegraph
In an article for The Telegraph, Head of Bedales Magnus Bashaarat argues that the case for change in the way universities offer and allocate places is now overwhelming, and that reform should also signal the end for GCSEs.
Magnus believes that the current arrangement, under which universities make offers to students on the basis of predicted grades, is untenable. He says: “First, there is the pressure on teachers to inflate predicted grades so that their students get offers. Research shows a tiny percentage of these to be accurate, with the vast majority over-predicted, but with almost a quarter of the most able people from disadvantaged backgrounds under-predicted. Second is the extent to which universities now make unconditional offers on the back of such shaky evidence.”
He continues: “On the face of it, the status quo benefits universities, who typically find themselves in hock for new facilities and desperate to secure the student pound. However, if September then sees them accommodating students who can’t keep up or, worse, drop out, the picture looks rather different.”
Despite intense pressure for change and ministerial dismay at the proliferation in the issuing of unconditional offers, reform has hitherto been seen as too difficult to implement. Now, UCAS is expected to publish two options for reform – the first seeing students applying to university after receiving their A Level grades, and with the university year starting in January; the second with candidates applying in the usual way but only receiving offers on the back of grades being published.
Magnus says: “In the interests of change being as workable as possible the second of these is better. Changing university admission procedures will be challenging, but it is a matter of if rather than when.”
On the current examination system, he adds: “The exam and marking process, hugely resource heavy and inefficient at GCSE and A level, could be overhauled at the same time. Reform would mean GCSEs becoming redundant beyond their predictive utility for A Level performance. If you don’t need predicted grades because all applicants for university places have their A level results already, then you don’t need GCSE exams on which to predict them. Far too much classroom time is devoted to examination preparation at the expense of meaningful learning, to the detriment of young people.”
Magnus is part of the Rethinking Assessment movement of educationalists and academics who are calling for a broader assessment of pupils’ strengths and reform of GCSEs. “Collaboration, project work, coursework and continuous assessment are all needed to replace the reductive and repetitive regime of terminal exams.”
The full article can be read on The Telegraph website here (subscription may be required).