The Education Policy Institute has today launched a new report exploring how well the English education system is doing in terms of student progress and attainment. How far away are we from being world class?
The report undertakes the difficult challenge of comparing England’s system fairly and meaningfully to that of other countries – not always an easy comparison to make.
“An accurate understanding of what it would mean for England to have a ‘world class’ education system becomes even more important as the government introduces new GCSE exams with a new grading system, explicitly designed to set a ‘world class standard’. When the new system is in place, it is likely that the proportion of pupils achieving the government’s key measure of GCSE success will plunge by around 20 per cent – unless the government waters down its ambition to raise the benchmark for what constitutes a robust pass (from a grade C under the old system to a grade 5 under the reformed system)”.
The report aims to help inform key debates by assessing what a world class standard really looks like in key subjects – translating international PISA data into GCSE equivalents. Then looking at how England, parts of England, and other parts of the UK measure up against this world class benchmark.
“Over the last decade, England’s performance in maths and reading in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has remained average, and its ranking among other developed countries has stagnated. England now ranks 24 out of 40 countries in maths and 17 in reading.1 Given the focus and investment in education under successive governments over the past twenty years, the inability of England to rise up these global rankings and compete with world leading countries may be considered by policy makers as disappointing.
The standards of education in England will also be brought into sharp focus this year when, for the first time, pupils receive their results in new, more challenging, maths and English GCSEs. The new GCSEs will be scored under a numerical 9-1 framework. Over time, the existing A*-G grading system is being phased out for all subjects”.
Key findings:
- In order to match the top five performing countries in maths and reading (English Language), pupils in England will need to score an average of a grade 5 under the new 9-1 GCSE framework.
- Half of pupils in England should be scoring a total of 50 points or higher across Attainment 8 subjects in order to match the top performing nations.
- Currently, only 40 per cent of pupils in England achieve this world class benchmark.
- However, performance across England is variable. In London, 45 per cent of pupils achieved the world class benchmark, while fewer than a third achieved it in other parts of the country.
- The other UK nations also need to improve significantly – particularly Wales.
Download and read the full report here : English-education-world-class
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