GCSEs are getting easier
Posted by Sophy at 8 51 PM on Saturday, June 19
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SHOCKING evidence of exams dumbing down has been uncovered by a News of the World investigation.
We asked 10 bright kids studying for their GCSEs to sit questions from the past - and their results crumpled.
The youngsters sailed through last year's paper with flying colours, chalking up an impressive eight out of ten.
But when they were asked to tackle an exam sat by youngsters in the 1980s their results nosedived with our "class" scoring barely four out of ten.
Last night experts from the world of science and education said the News of the World study proves what they have suspected for years - that exams are getting too easy.
They demanded a thorough overhaul of the key qualification battered by claims it fails to stretch bright pupils.
Education Secretary Michael Gove was shocked when we presented him with our findings and promised action to make the exams system more robust.
He claimed there was too many multiple choice questions, which had turned some exams into a written version of the TV quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Mr Gove added: "I want all exams taken here to be as good as those in other countries - Australia, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong.
"We shall be sending a strong signal to exam boards that it's no longer good enough to say our GCSEs and A-levels are down in comparison with a few years ago. It's important that our exams are world-beating."
Fears about "easy" exams mounted after more than a fifth of papers were graded A* or A last summer - double the number when the GCSE was first introduced in 1988.
In our test, pupils would be expected to do worse on older exams because the syllabus has changed and they are more used to new style questions.
But the huge gulf in results staggered the experts.
Last night Dr Richard Pike, Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry, blasted: “There has been a systematic dumbing down of GCSEs.
“The UK is slipping into mediocrity and for the sake of the country, for the sake of the kids, we’ve got to change this.
“It’s difficult to speak out without being criticised for demotivating students who are currently taking GCSEs.
“But it’s better to be honest now than to let them continue as they are, because in five or ten years they will be struggling to find jobs on the international market.”
Dr Pike is so concerned about science GCSE standards that he wrote to Schools Secretary Michael Gove last week.
The watchdog Ofqual has also attacked the new tests for being too easy.
The regulator raised concerns in 2009 that science GCSEs were failing to stretch bright pupils - and ordered the exam boards to make them more challenging.
But last week the awarding bodies were sent back to the drawing board with a slap on the wrist, after Ofqual said the exams are STILL too simple.
The new science papers will be used from September 2011, so must be toughened up before then.
Isabel Nisbet, chief executive of Ofqual, said: "Some of the content was not as weighty as you would expect at GCSE.
“Too many questions are based on recall. People were asked to apply general knowledge, rather than using their skills and understanding of science to evaluate the evidence and make a reasoned judgment."
Ms Nisbet also said the maths content of science GCSEs was not sufficiently rigorous, and there were too many multiple choice questions.
Our investigation uncovered a range of questions that are embarrassingly easy.
One of the new science papers asked pupils to name “two types of local organisations that provide sport or fitness facilities for the community.”
Another common sense question asks: “Mike goes into hospital for a major operation.
“The nurse asks Mike some questions about his lifestyle and medical history.
“Write down two questions that the nurse may ask Mike about his lifestyle.”
We set 10 current GCSE pupils a range of maths and science questions from exams from the 1980s and 2009.
Here’s what the pupils and the experts had to say about the difference in exam standards.
What the experts said:
By Dr Richard Pike, Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry
“There is no question that GCSE exams have got easier over the years.
“The new science papers have questions which can hardly be called science at all.
“Pupils are sitting a glorified general knowledge exam, full of easy questions and multiple choice answers.
“In the old exams, students had to go through a logical series of steps to arrive at the right conclusion.
“Kids had to tackle a small number of detailed questions, rather than a large number of superficial questions that GCSE students must answer today.
“If there is any maths at all nowadays it’s a simple divide one number by another, or add two numbers up.
“A lot of the time examiners are simply looking for a few key words.
“We have also seen a big change in the way GCSEs are marked.
“In the old days, papers were marked by university professors or experienced teachers because the answers were quite intellectual.
“Nowadays they are often marked by unskilled people because they are so formulaic.
“It’s a big worry for the science world that exams are getting so much easier.
“GCSEs have become so dumbed down that bright kids are turned off science because it’s so boring.
“And such a gulf is forming between GCSEs and the standard required for A Level and degree that a generation of young scientists are woefully unprepared.”
What the students said:
Millie Kershaw, 16, from Reading, said: “I thought the older maths and science questions were noticeably much harder.
“The wording of the older questions was often complicated and not straightforward to understand at first, whereas the new GCSE questions were set out more simply.
“I think overall GCSEs are getting easier, but particularly science.
“There’s too many unnecessary multiple choice questions.
“If the candidate knows the topic or has revised well, these questions are often easily answerable without multiple choice.”
Abi Gillett, 14, from Bude in Cornwall, is doing her GCSEs a year early.
She said: “I didn’t know what to expect before I did the test, but now I definitely think exams are getting easier.
“The old exams blew my mind!
“I had no idea what they were talking about. The science questions made my mind go blank, and some of the maths questions totally confused me.”
David Rassam, 16, from Slough, is predicted straight A and A* grades in his GCSEs.
He said: “I found the questions from the old exam papers more challenging in both maths and science.
“The old questions would be definately A* grade questions at current GCSE standards.
“Based on my experience, it's fair to conclude GCSEs have become significantly easier and less challenging than they used to be 40 years ago.
“I feel the modern science questions in particular are too generic. “In other words, the questions are becoming common sense or general knowledge.
“The old maths questions were more challenging because I had to actually think about how to answer the question, whereas the current GCSE questions don't really require much skill or practice.”