Tuesday, 11 June 2013

Michael Gove has gone 'Bonkeroony' - a new exam for mediocrity

Dumbing down our exam system by abolishing the rigour of modules and coursework will damage the life chances of our young people, undermine excellence, and damage our economy.

Modularity brings out specialists, with a passion for a subject. This is essential to support UK research & development. Instead we going to abandon support for highly gifted students, to be replaced by a single bland generalised exam structure. Clearly Gove has not consulted any UK universities, else he would have discovered that undergraduate courses are taught using a modular approach.

Coursework is rigorous, and requires students to deliver throughout their training and learning period. Simply regurgitating facts in a 2 hour exam is insufficient to demonstrate true understanding of a topic, and the ability to apply that learning.

As someone who both runs a small business and teaches part-time at an English university, my advice to young people is to ask to be entered into exams set by Scottish or Welsh examination boards.

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