By Gavin Mackintosh-
New golden standards of G.C.S.E’s are underway as hundreds of thousands of pupils prepare to take new, more rigorous GCSE exams this week. The exams are on a par with the best performing education systems in the world, the School Standards Minister announced today.
The gold-standard qualifications for 20 new GCSEs – including the sciences, French, German, Spanish, history and geography – have been designed with employers in mind. The qualifications are more rigorous in content, examining the quality of the student’s knowledge. The reforms have been welcomed by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) for preparing pupils for future careers in the industries that Britain needs. The new science GCSEs now includes space physics and the human genome and the new Computer Science GCSE now includes greater focus on programming.
Schools Standards Minister Nick Gibb said:
AD: Capeesh Restaurant
”These more rigorous, gold-standard GCSEs are helping to nurture the next generation of scientists, linguists and historians. Whatever pupils want to do with their lives, these qualifications will prepare them for future success and help deliver the skills Britain needs to be fit for the future.
Thanks to our reforms and the hard work of teachers, education standards are rising in our schools and last year, teachers and pupils responded well to the new English and maths exams. I wish pupils all the very best as they prepare to sit these exams and I look forward to celebrating their success in the summer”.
The start of the exams follow recent news of funding to train up to 8000 existing computing teachers to teach the new GCSE – that is enough to ensure every secondary school in England has a teacher who can support pupils to succeed.
AD: Oysterian Sea Food Restaurant And Bar
The new GCSEs will be graded 9 to 1, with 9 being the top grade(and 1 , the lowest grade) to distinguish the highest performing pupils from other high performers who do not belong to the league of the highest level. The uk government supported the new system by stating the benefits it will have to employers, to help them identify the new, more rigorous qualifications.
The new grading system also builds on the success of last year’s changes to GCSE maths and English which saw 59.1 per cent of pupils achieving a grade 4 or above. Standards are rising in schools thanks to these reforms and the hard work of teachers, which has resulted in 1.9 million more children in good or outstanding schools than 2010.
The government’s Industrial Strategy highlighted a shortage of STEM skills. There is a need to increase number of people able to study for STEM degrees to support the current economy and its growth. The reforms to GCSEs and A levels, as well as these teaching programmes are just two of the ways this is being achieved”.
Pupils form Ursuline Academy in Ilford have prepared very hard for these exams as the school stepped up preparations for the UK government’s new academic reforms. The girls catholic school which adopts a high work ethic for its pupils, admit 75% of its pupils from the Catholic faith, which the other 30 % coming from other backgrounds. The school has an atmosphere of hard work, and liaise with parents to support their children’s development. Dating among pupils is actively discouraged, as pupils are taught to respect Godly principles and focus on their education. An Ofsted report concluded the school is above the national average
A number of pupils from the school told The Eye of Media.Com during a survey last week that they ”date in secret” in order to maintain the moral reputation of the school, but most pupils told our researchers they were focusing fully on their studies, and that having boy friends and girlfriends are an unnecessary distraction. Usurline Academy has specialist science status and impressive accreditations, including investors in careers and Healthy schools.
However
An insider from Usuriline Academy told The Eye Of Media.Com: ”the children have studied hard for these exams, as we have been adapting to the higher standards set by the government in our preparations. There is a community of dedication in this school, but there are some pupils who have struggled to meet the new standards. Overall, most pupils are expected to do well, our students do perform above the national average in these exams”. The new higher standards set by the government challenges the UK education system to rise all the way from primary school right through to secondary school.
The aim of the new system is to make British education one of the best in the world. Our best Universities rank among the world’s best, but our state secondary schools have been struggling to compete with the standards of the best countries.Our private schools and grammar schools are among the world’s best, and primary school standards are also rising in many parts of the UK in line with the new higher Sats standard exams.
AD: Heritage And Restaurant Lounge Bar