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Ministers must reform the secondary school curriculum in England to address “glaring omissions” on climate change and digital literacy, according to a review of the education system for 11- to 16-year-olds by a top exam board.
Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR) on Wednesday called for the creation of an independent body to maintain a “far more contemporary and forward-looking” curriculum that reflects the “diversity of modern Britain”.
The findings of the OCR report, led by former education secretary Charles Clarke, come as the Labour government consults on a proposed overhaul of the school curriculum, with experts calling for gradual reform after decades of infrequent “big bang changes”.
Clarke told the Financial Times that ministers needed to ensure continual curriculum reform that was not “subject to the whim of political fantasy”.
“We need to move away from this idea that a new secretary of state comes in and then there’s a big set of changes,” he said. “The system cannot be suddenly transformed by some silver bullet. It’s got to be evolution, not revolution.”
The review called on government to “provide leadership and a sense of urgency” by recognising “glaring omissions” on climate change and sustainability more explicitly in the curriculum.
Alongside updates to make syllabuses more reflective of social diversity, it recommended reinstating digital literacy, highlighting the need for education about the ethical use of social media and the appropriate use of artificial intelligence.
Clarke said that while he hoped the findings would feed into the government review being led by Becky Francis, chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation charity, it was important to have cross-party consensus on reform.
“It’s difficult to get an agreed process of moving forward unless both opposition and government agree,” he added.
The Department for Education said “high and rising standards are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity”.
The review led by Francis would “consider how to ensure young people get the opportunity to access a broad and balanced curriculum” and “work to deliver a system that balances different assessment methods alongside the importance of exams”, it added.
Damian Hinds, Conservative shadow education secretary, said England had one of the world’s leading education systems.
“By contrast, the last Labour government’s erosion of standards saw us fall down the global rankings. They must not repeat this for the sake of ideology, and we will hold them to account on it,” he said.
In addition to curriculum reform, Clarke called for new digital maths and English assessments to be introduced for 14-year-olds in order to provide a “structured focus” in the first few years of secondary education.
“A significant number of children are leaving school without the basic foundational competences in English and maths,” he said. “The idea you deal with that by remedial work and resits at the age of 17 or 18 seems quite wrong. You should be looking at what you can do before you even get to GCSEs.”
About 40 per cent of students failed to pass maths GCSE this year, with a similar rate for English, according to data published last month that showed widening regional disparities.
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The Royal Society on Tuesday also called for an overhaul of maths education, warning that the UK risked being “left in the slow lane”.
Sir Martin Taylor, chair of the Royal Society advisory committee on mathematics education, criticised the requirement of those who failed GCSE maths to re-take exams repeatedly as “one of the greatest scandals”.
The OCR review recommended cutting the duration and number of exams for maths GCSE and suggested moving some “more demanding” content into additional qualifications taken by high achievers.
Clarke said the issues with maths reflected a broader overreliance on exams and “overloaded” content at GCSE level, with the average 16-year-old in England sitting more than 31 hours of exams, far more than their international peers.
The OCR report recommended rebalancing the system by scheduling exams over a longer time period and reviewing the use of other forms of assessment.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said the report added to evidence that the exam system was “not fit for purpose”.