‘What is the educational justification for GCSEs?’

Surely we could design a less intrusive but reliable way of reporting on pupils’ achievements at 16, says Kevin Stannard. Last week neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore tweeted, “Why do we even have GCSEs now that young people have to be in full-time education until 18?” In asking this question in May, she broke the long-standing convention that we should wait until results day before laying into the exam system. But the existential GCSE question keeps coming up, and it deserves a considered response. Read More.