LET’S be honest, the 2022 exams season has passed off far more smoothly than anyone had any right to expect in this first series of formal exams since 2019.
I suspect the reasons for that are clear. The key to the relative calm in schools on August results days can be found in a consensus agreement reached with schools in early February.
The timing, before serious exam revision had started, suited schools and teachers. Syllabus content was reduced in most subjects, formulae and equation sheets were provided in maths and science subjects, and coursework requirements were adjusted.
As part of the “deal”, school leaders and their teachers accepted that, while top grades would have to fall from the inflated 2021 figures, a return to pre-pandemic levels would have to be phased. Heads supported the proposal, teachers rose to the challenge, and the deal was done.
It could, and should, be a template for next summer’s exam season as well.
This welcome consensus will not be maintained during the period of the annual league-tables shenanigans. The DfE had already agreed that the SATs data from primary-school tests would not be published nationally in 2022. There is no clear rationale for its being different for secondary schools.
Richard Sheriff, a past president of the influential Association of School and College Leaders and chief executive of the Red Kite Alliance, in Yorkshire, is adamant. “This is most definitely not the year to make comparisons and bring competition on to the agenda,” he told me. There is little doubt, however, that the DfE will go ahead. Most heads and, it is to be hoped, many parents will treat the league tables as irrelevant.
MATHS was again the most popular A level, with a whopping 89,625 entries. Rishi Sunak will interpret that as a vindication of his recent public statement that he would wage war on “degrees that don’t increase earning potential”. I’m not sure that Mr Sunak has thought that one through. A conversation with Mrs Sunak might have helped. This year, I discovered that an ex-student of mine, with a degree in fashion marketing, from a modestly ranked university, is an “influencer” on Instagram with more than 100,000 followers and a rapidly expanding business.
Was Mr Sunak maybe thinking of English literature? Once regarded as the A level of choice for aspirant lawyers and civil servants, as recently as 2014 it was number one on the list of entries. In 2022, its year-on-year decline took it to 12th.
Psychology maintained its high 21st-century profile with an astonishing 76,265 entries, second only to maths. You could argue that, post-pandemic, this is wholly welcome. Mental-health issues for many students will overshadow their exam choices. Every sympathy to the psychology A-level candidate who drew a teapot in answer to a question on his exam paper, and pleaded for help. “Dear Examiner, I think I’m having a nervous breakdown.” I do hope he’s OK. Many are clearly not OK.
Good news for religious studies, however, especially at GCSE. The curriculum reform requiring syllabuses to cover two major world religions has proved to be an unqualified success. The propensity of adolescents to be “up for a debate” is undiminished.
THEN come “the elephants in the room”. The yawning 2021 gap between the top grades in independent schools and state schools narrowed markedly in 2022, and is thus less of an elephant this year. The proportion fell by 12.4 per cent in private schools, and by 8.7 per cent in state schools. On the other hand, there remains a huge and widening gap between the north-east and the south-east of England. In broad terms, students in the north-east achieved ten per cent fewer top grades than their southern counterparts. How can this be?
The 2022 results confirm that the dream of an English Ebacc is over. Professor Alan Smithers, of the University of Buckingham, is unequivocal. “The GCSE Ebacc is done for, and will be quietly phased out.”
A qualification meant to break the link between students’ socio-economic circumstances and their GCSE subject choices has foundered. Launched in 2011, the initial target was 90 per cent. By 2017, it was 75 per cent. In 2022, it has flat-lined at about 40 per cent.
Four subject areas — maths, English, science, and humanities present few obstacles. Add in the fifth dimension: modern languages, and the whole Ebacc principle crumbles. It is a similar story at A level. Entries for modern foreign languages (MFL) prop up the table. German had a risible 2646 entries; Italian, nowhere to be seen. The old jokes are back.
There are reports of a notice asking tourists in a German hotel not to wear Sportbekleidung, Muskelshirts, and Badeschlappen in the hotel dining room. Underneath, it reads, “We ask you not to wear sportswear, suspenders, or flip-flops to enter the restaurant.”
Vicky Gough, at the British Council, is not amused. “The benefits of language skills cannot be overstated, particularly as the UK has to re-negotiate its place on the world stage.”
It is the most daunting September restart in living memory. The financial crisis will inevitably mean staffing reductions. What sort of curriculum will survive? By half-term, we will know. Best wishes to all.