GCSE History Examinations from the 1960s to the present day
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Course
History GCSE
Institution
History GCSE
This analysis of the role of examinations in history teaching starts with what we have now
and seeks to explain how we got there, as well as why there were a number of ‘dead-ends’
along the way.
Features of the current examination system in history
GCSE
As National Curriculum history is no...
History Examinations from the 1960s to the present day This analysis of the role of examinations in history teaching starts with what we have now and seeks to explain how we got there, as well as why there were a number of ‘dead-ends’ along the way. Features of the current examination system in history GCSE As National Curriculum history is not tested by SATs, we are dealing only with 16+ examinations (GCSE and A level). GCSE history has the largest entry of the ‘optional’ subjects (33% of GCSE students took history in 2009 – 197,800 entries). There are 3 exam boards, OCR, Edexcel and AQA who between them provide syllabus choice, usually between Modern World and Schools History Project. There are other syllabus options, but across all three boards, these two are the dominant GCSE syllabuses and there is little variation between AQA Modern World and those offered by Edexcel and OCR. Publishers produce text books which are ‘tweaked’ for the specific board – some are written by examiners. The situation substantiates the criticism voiced at the conference on 14 Oct. 2010 that GCSE has become very narrow. Recent changes to GCSE from 2009 mean that there is a mandated section of British history on the syllabus. Some teachers like the new version (interview Linda Turner and Rob Snow) and others don’t (interview Darren Hughff). Given Darren’s school situation (a very challenging area of Hartlepool) compared with Linda and Rob (semi-middle-class Knaresborough), these reactions are probably to do with an increase in content which will be more demanding for less able children. Coursework done by the pupil outside class has now been replaced by ‘controlled assessment’ accounting for 25% of the marks (Maddison, 2009). The controlled assessment is a written question completed using school-based resources (could be the internet in addition to notes and books, etc.) in school time and supervised by teachers over a set period. The controlled assessment, like coursework, is marked by the teacher and moderated externally by the examination board (who sample the students’ work). Syllabuses are now called ‘specifications’ and are very detailed – not so much in terms of content (though they are defined very closely in those terms as well) but in terms of assessment of pupil performance. Another significant criticism (recently voiced by the HPAT group) is that GCSE is disconnected from the rest of the National Curriculum. This is just what the original NC was supposed to avoid as repetition of content was a major flaw in history teaching pre-1990. However, the decision to make history optional after Key Stage 3 has had this effect. Because so many children complete their history education at the end of Year 9 (age 14), the NC has been adjusted to ensure that key national and international events are included (e.g. World Wars). However, there is never time to cover these in detail – pupils who do Modern World GCSE will do the twentieth century in detail again and some will do parts of it at A level too. A level A level history has more entries than ever previously (45,066 entries in 2010); on that basis, it is a very successful qualification. It is also highly-regarded and regularly features in the press as one of the ‘valued’ A levels (as opposed to Media Studies, which is regularly pilloried in the press). However, there are plenty of critics of the current A level regime (see de Waal, 2009). Since 2000, all A levels have been ‘modular’, ie the syllabus is broken down into ‘chunks’ called units with a short exam for each one. It is also segmented by year, with the Advanced Subsidiary (AS) level for the first year examined at an intermediate level between GCSE and A level and the A2 examined at full A level standard in year 2. Initially, each A level had 6 units (3 for AS and 3 for A2). This was amended in 2008 to 4 units (2 for AS and 2 for A2) following criticisms both of the ‘bitty’ nature of the 6 units, and the common practice of re-
sits of units which has led to almost 100% pass rates and has been held by some to have undermined standards. Since 2008, restrictions on the availability of resits have been introduced. The substitution of 4 for 6 units has not however reduced the variety of topics included as it is perfectly possible to have a unit which combines two very disparate topics (e.g. Stalin’s Russia and Civil Rights in the USA) which are simply studied sequentially. The A* grade was introduced at A2 level only for those reaching 90% at A2 (and they must achieve an A across all units without resits). Various criticisms of A level history remain:- The modular system prevents coherent, continuous, cumulative or synoptic learning – all of which were characteristic of the outline courses common before 2000 (see transcript of interview with Eric Evans). The assessment system encourages teaching (and learning) to the test and no more. Examiners’ text books have had a pernicious influence because they promise to enable teachers and students to produce the results – critics claim they are often hastily and shoddily written by examiners who haven’t got the time to do the job properly. They also crowd out other worthwhile text books for A level which stretch students more. Another consequence is that students no longer do wider reading or read the works of leading academic historians (despite the fact that quotations from secondary works are often used in exams). Essay skills have declined due to the lack of consistent practice of extended writing (though most A level history syllabuses do contain a personal study or extended writing for coursework). However, AS level mainly consists of short answer questions which require only up to one page of writing in response. Narrowness of content – Tudors and Nazis have dominated the syllabuses since the 1990s. Since 2008 a number of new syllabuses have been introduced so this may be changing. Partly this focus on ‘Henries and Hitler’ was a result of good resources in those fields of study (where a lot of recent historical work has been done too) which then is perpetuated over many years, as teachers’ expertise is an important factor at A level as well as the major cost of books and other resources. Assessment of A level history has become fiendishly complicated – in order to standardise results and to ensure consistency of marking, mark schemes are now very detailed. Assessment objectives (AOs) apply to different tasks within each paper, so for instance, students must address evaluation of sources in one particular question but not another – if they evaluate sources elsewhere, no marks can be given. There is no examiners’ discretion to reward a talented but unconventional response. In a recent case, an Oxford tutor reported on a piece of history work submitted by a candidate. It was some AS-level written work – large parts of excellent work had been crossed out by the student’s A level teacher with the comment ‘not required for AS level’.
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