New report reveals key options and trade-offs for secondary school qualifications reform
Qualifications reform is back on the agenda, with a new Prime Minister keen to make his mark, and the latest summer exam results prompting a flurry of commentary.
It is therefore timely that the Centre for Education Systems is today releasing a new report, systematically mapping out how fifteen countries structure their qualification systems across lower and upper secondary level.
Andy Burnham has promised an entitlement to vocational qualifications for all students from age 14, prompting discussion on the relative benefits of academic and vocational study. Questions arise over what age it is appropriate for young people to peel off onto a specialised pathway, and how we can ensure that any specialisation retains sufficient breadth and flexibility to allow young people to work out a pathway that is right for them.
Meanwhile, the summer results series prompted the annual discussions over what is the minimum learning that children need to acquire in order to navigate work, life and further study and — beyond that minimum — how much of the curriculum needs to be centrally credentialed, or even credentialed at all, given the associated pressures.
Our interim report on the assessment systems of 15 jurisdictions maps out the different approaches jurisdictions take to these critical and timely questions
The report identifies two main approaches to secondary school qualifications:
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National standardised assessments only: Pupils sit a centrally-set and administered assessments — largely in the form of national or jurisdiction-wide exams — for all their subjects.
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Hybrid assessment systems: Pupils sit a small number of national/jurisdiction-wide exams in key subjects (e.g., English and maths) and then have school-based assessment for other subjects.
Some systems also opt to avoid any national /jurisdiction-wide assessment for qualifications at all, at least at lower secondary. Instead, they either opt either for a purely school-based approach to assessment, or rely only on system-wide diagnostic testing.
The report also identifies a number of other key areas of divergence. These include:
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The total number of subjects assessed: at upper secondary this ranges from just 3 in England, to 18 or more
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How many years of assessment are required at upper secondary: for example, do students complete a qualification over one or two years
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How many electives are offered within qualifications: in some systems, like England, students’ are only assessed in subjects of their choosing at upper secondary level, whereas in others there is very little choice
CES’ new report explores many of the trade-offs and decision-factors that underpin these choices. The value of this report will continue to grow as we combine its insights with CES’ existing studies of accountability, curriculum and SEND, along with a second phase of work on assessment system. This will:
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drill further into the component parts of each jurisdiction’s system,
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add-in insight on primary assessment, and assessment outside of the qualification system.
Commenting on the report, Dr Taylor Hughson, Senior Research Associate for CES and the study’s lead author said:
“By looking at education systems around the world, we can see that there are many more options for qualifications design than we often realise. England’s current approach is different from that taken in many other jurisdictions. However, there is no ‘perfect’ approach: instead, each comes with downsides and trade-offs to be weighed up. Our report sets out a framework for doing exactly that, so that choices can be aligned with government goals.”
CES’ new research also includes an analysis of vocational and technical pathways. Our analysis, led by Tom Richmond, confirms that jurisdictions only tend to offer a predominantly vocational path in the post-16 phase of education. There are two[1] exceptions to this among our sample of 15 jurisdictions:
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The Netherlands: where students can begin working towards an employment-oriented qualification in vocationally oriented schools from age 13 onwards,
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France: which has two diplomas offered at lower secondary: a ‘general’ and ‘professional’ option.
Emeritus Professor Dylan Wiliam, member of the CES advisory board, welcomed the report’s publication, noting that:
“When formulating educational policies, it obviously makes sense to learn from other countries’ experiences, but particularly in a technical field like assessment, this can be difficult. This is why the Centre for Education Systems’ latest report on assessment is so welcome. It gets beneath the surface features and provides a thorough analysis of how different countries’ assessment systems differ, and how they are alike, providing useful insights into the principles for designing effective assessment systems. This will be an invaluable guide for anyone interested in harnessing the power of assessment to improve education."
[1] Singapore does have a predominantly vocational track at lower secondary for students who go to 'specialised schools' for those who are likely to struggle with an academic curriculum, or who prefer hands-on learning (but are distinct from SEND schools). However these are only for about 1.5-2% of the student population.