March 2009: Change in the air

Welcome to our regular round-up of the leading stories in education and schooling in the UK.

Cambridge University to raise the bar

School-leavers will need to get at least an A* and two A grades in their A-levels from next year if they want to study at Cambridge University. The A* grade will be awarded for the first time in 2010 for marks over 90%. The more prestigious universities have been saying for some time that they find it hard to distinguish between the best candidates, with over a quarter of pupils achieving the A grade.

Admissions disputes

One in six pupils in England has been denied a place in their first choice secondary school, with families in Greater London the worst affected (nearly one in two). Many parents and commentators cry foul, pointing at how a number of schools break the rules, whilst others hold the view that the system is too complicated for some parents.

However, it is difficult to see how the system can be any more transparent and it is unlikely that “cheating” on the part of parents or schools can entirely be eradicated. One solution is to lift the overall performance of the struggling state sector, ironing out the discrepancies in quality between schools so that parents have more choice.

There is hope. Innovations such as academies, trust schools or specialist status – often sniped at by both the right and left-wing press – are starting to allow schools greater autonomy, which in turn should nurture more diversity and choice in the school system.

End of the lottery?

Allocating school places by lottery – in effect the local education authorities pulling names out of a hat – is likely to be stopped, mainly due to its widespread unpopularity. 6% of all secondary school places are currently decided by a lottery system.

Changes to the GCSE

From September 2009 structural changes are to be made to the GCSE, the qualification that English students take between the ages of 14 and 16. Coursework is to be phased out and replaced by assessed “modules”, that children can retake if they fail. Removing coursework from the qualification may allow schools more flexibility to integrate pupils part-way through the GCSE course.

The rise of the IGCSE?

One leading private school, Manchester Grammar School, has decided to replace all GCSEs with the international GCSE (also known as the IGCSE). Many private schools have started to adopt the IGCSE in certain subjects as it is deemed more rigorous. Indeed, the head of St Pauls School, a private school in London, recently described the GCSE as "pap". The concern is that it will create a greater divide between the private and state sector, with the latter welded to the GCSE through the national curriculum.

University applications to change

From September 2009 there will be a mini-revolution in university applications made through the central body, UCAS. Candidates are to be allowed to apply on the basis of actual, achieved grades rather than predicted grades, with the intention that all applications will be handled like this within three years.

A survey of predicted grades has shown that they are wrong 55% of the time, the failure more heavily weighted towards those predicted within the state sector. The idea is that universities will get a more accurate idea of a student’s capabilities, and that pupils from poorer backgrounds (who are often deterred from applying to the better universities) will have more confidence in doing so.

In the short-term, however, there is likely to be some confusion and disappointment as the system beds in.

University fees to rise?

A BBC survey of university vice-chancellors shows that most feel that student fees - currently capped at £3500 - need to rise sharply. The government has delayed a decision on future plans until 2010, unsurprising given the levels of opposition when they were first introduced in 2004.

International schools update

Are the international schools experiencing less pressure on places this year more, compared to the heavy traffic of the last three years? Formally, with the re-enrollment process still underway, this is difficult to assert with any confidence. Informally, there does seem to be a little more flexibility in the system. The advice remains that applications need to be made as soon as possible.