GCSE and A-level reforms will place focus on ‘core subject knowledge’, says Gibb

Writing for the Telegraph, Gibb highlighted that despite improvements in GCSE pass rates, literacy and numeracy skills among pupils have stagnated, with 16-24 year olds performing worse than adults aged 55-65.

In response to this, Gibb said that GCSE and A-level qualifications required fundamental reform, as for many years exam boards had ‘competed with each other to appeal to the lowest common denominator in the battle for market share’, which resulted in qualifications that assessed ‘vague thinking skills rather than core subject knowledge’.

From September, reformed qualifications will be introduced that aim to bring up standards to ‘match the best around the world’. As a part of this reform, the new maths GCSE will place greater emphasis on mathematical reasoning to improve progression to A-level. The English literature GCSE will now require pupils to study a broader range of texts, including Shakespeare and novels from the 19th century.

Additionally, the new history A-level will cover material from a span of at least 200 years, to ensure a broad understanding of the subject, and science subjects will require a minimum of 12 practical activities to better develop technical skills.

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