Consultation closing date: 20 August 2013
Your comments must reach us by that date
Reformed GCSE subject content consultation
If you would prefer to respond online to this consultation please use the following link: https://www.education.gov.uk/consultations
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/ Please tick if you want us to keep your response confidential./ Reason for confidentiality:
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/ Name: Dr Steve Tilling
/ Please tick if you are responding on behalf of your organisation.
/ x
/ Name of Organisation (if applicable): Field Studies Council
/ Address:
Preston Montford
Montford Bridge
Shrewsbury
Shropshire
SY4 5PU
Information sharing
The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) is undertaking a parallel consultation on regulatory conditions for GCSEs. Please tell us if you or your organisation has responded or is intending to respond, to Ofqual’s consultation:
Yesx /
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I do not want DfE to forward my response to this consultation to OfqualPlease mark the box that best describes you as a respondent.
/ Academy and/or Free School /
/ Comprehensive School /
/ State Selective School
/ Independent School /
/ Special School /
/ Sixth Form Only
/ Subject Association /
/ Organisations representing teachers /
/ Parent
/ Young Person /
/ Higher Education /
/ Further Education
/ Local Authority /
/ Teacher /
/ Governor
X
/ Employer/Business sector /
/ Awarding Organisation
/ The Field Studies Council (FSC) is an education charity committed to bringing environmental understanding to all. It currently welcomes 145,000 visitors every year on courses to its national network of 17 Field Centres. These include groups from nearly 3,000 schools, colleges and universities. Established in 1943, FSC has become internationally respected for its national network of education centres and is the UK’s leading provider of curriculum focused field courses.
FSC provides informative and enjoyable opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to discover, explore, be inspired by, and understand the natural and built environment. We believe that the more we know about the environment, the more we can appreciate its needs and protect its diversity and beauty for future generations. We feel that fieldwork should be a vital element of an imaginative and contemporary education.
If you have an enquiry which is related to the DfE e-consultation website or the consultation process in general, you can contact the Ministerial and Public Communications Division by e-mail: or by telephone: 0370 000 2288 or via the Department's 'Contact Us' page.
Questions 1-6 below ask you to give your views with reference to a specific subject suite:
- English,
- Mathematics
- Sciences
- Geography
- History
- Modern and ancient languages.
You do not need to give answers for all the subject suites - please answer only with respect to those subjects on which you have a particular view.
Please ensure that you answer questions 7-11 as well – we would like responses from everyone on those.
- English, including English language and English literature
1a Do the proposed subject content and assessment objectives for English, which includes English language and English literature, cover the appropriate knowledge and understanding for GCSEs in these subjects?
/ Yes /
/ No -insufficiently demanding /
/ No- overly demanding
/ Not Sure
/ Comments:
No comment.
1b Is the relative weighting of the assessment objectives right for English, which includes English literature and English language?
/ Yes /
/ No /
/ Not Sure
/ Comments:
No comment.
1c Has the right practical content for English language been identified to allow students to gain the skills to progress in the subject, beyond the content which can be examined externally and reliably included in the GCSE grade?
/ Yes /
/ No /
/ Not Sure
/ Comments:
No comment.
1d Do the proposed subject content and assessment objectives for English, which includes English literature and English language, provide assurance that essential knowledge taught at the earlier key stages is built upon and represented adequately?
/ Yes /
/ No /
/ Not Sure
/ Comments:
No comment.
1e Will the proposed qualifications in English, which includes English language and English literature, secure sound progression for the purposes of further academic and vocational study?
/ Yes /
/ No /
/ Not Sure
/ Comments:
No comment.
- Mathematics
2a Do the proposed subject content and assessment objectives for mathematics cover the appropriate knowledge and understanding for GCSEs in this subject?
/ Yes /
/ No -insufficiently demanding /
/ No- overly demanding
/ Not Sure
/ Comments:
No comment.
2b Is the relative weighting of the assessment objectives right for mathematics?
/ Yes /
/ No /
/ Not Sure
/ Comments:
No comment.
2c Has the right content for mathematics been identified for high achievers, including those going on to study A levels in science, technology, engineering and/or mathematics (STEM)?
/ Yes /
/ No /
/ Not Sure
/ Comments:
No comment.
2d Do the proposed subject content and assessment objectives for mathematics provide assurance that essential knowledge taught at the earlier key stages is built upon and represented adequately?
/ Yes /
/ No /
/ Not Sure
/ Comments:
No comment.
2e Will the proposed qualifications in mathematics secure sound progression for the purposes of further academic and vocational study?
/ Yes /
/ No /
/ Not Sure
/ Comments:
No comment.
- Science, including biology, chemistry, physics and combined science
3a Do the proposed subject content and assessment objectives for science, which includes biology, chemistry, physics and combined science, cover the appropriate knowledge and understanding for GCSEs in these subjects?
/ Yes / X
/ No -insufficiently demanding /
/ No- overly demanding
/ Not Sure
Subject aims and learning outcomes
Science connections
FSC welcomes:
- the aim to help students to develop curiosity about the natural world, including its relevance to everyday lives.
- the intention to focus on key ideas relating to sciences which are inter-linked and are of universal application, and the recognition that some of these apply across and between the three sciences.
Many of these connections could be made through extended practicals and fieldwork.
Recommendation
FSC recommends that an additional bullet is added (immediately following the first bullet), to read:
- develop awareness and understanding of how key ideas in science may be interlinked with applications across and between the three sciences.
Overall observation
The level of content (in length and depth of detail) presented in the separate sciences is inconsistent. This could undermine opportunities to teach across the sciences, and/or for teachers to negotiate ‘off timetable’ activities such as fieldwork visits with colleagues teaching other sciences.
Biology
FSC welcomes the recognition that ‘biological information is used to help humans improve their own lives and strive to create a sustainable world for future generations’. This is a powerful statement that should be retained.
We are concerned that fieldwork is not required explicitly in the biology subject content (or in the overall science subject aims and learning outcomes – see above). Considerable evidence demonstrates that any presumption that fieldwork will be adopted as one of the ‘other learning environments’ is flawed. FSC recommends that the need for fieldwork should be stated explicitly in (at least) the Ecosystems section. For example, the introductory bullet in the Biodiversity sub-section should be amended to read:
- Carry out a fieldwork investigation into the distribution and abundance of organisms in an ecosystem and determine their numbers in a given area.
Chemistry
FSC welcomes and endorses the balance of subject content and the links made to human impacts and management. We recommend that existing content is retained including references to: agricultural productivity; industrial applications; efficacy of recycling; greenhouse gases; climate change; atmospheric pollutants; water resources. We believe that these links will help to deliver the overall science aim ‘to help students to develop curiosity about the natural world, including its relevance to everyday lives’ (see above).
FSC recommends that the sub-section ‘Agricultural productivity and the use of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium-based fertilisers’ (within the ‘Chemicals and allied industries’ section) becomes a general requirement for all GCSE chemistry specifications, not (as currently presented) an exclusive requirement for single award chemistry.
FSC believes that the present balance in the chemistry subject content could be introduced by a contextual statement in the introduction, similar to the one made in biology. We recommend that the following statement is included:
- Chemical information is used to help humans improve their own lives and strive to create a sustainable world for future generations
The subject content (including derived units and equations appendices) is twice as long as biology, mainly because it includes over 6 times as much recall. This appears to contradict the science subject aim ‘that there is no expectation that teaching (such) content should be repeated during the GCSE course where it has already been covered at an earlier stage’.
FSC recommends that the present level of ‘recall’ is reduced, to create space which can be used for themes and contexts which are weakly represented including sustainability (encompassing the effects of human activity) and earth science. It will also release time to carry out practicals, including fieldwork; these will be squeezed out by an unbalanced emphasis on ‘revision’ which, inevitably, will be largely classroom-based.
Integrating human activity will provide opportunities to teach physics in contexts that link to everyday lives, including activities which can take place outside the classroom and laboratory, including fieldwork. This strengthening of the human and everyday context will encourage recruitment to further study, at A level and beyond. This is important; the need for more people with key skills in earth science is a recurring theme in reviews of UK STEM capacity.
FSC recommends that an additional sentence is added to the introductory sentence of the physics section, to bring the discipline into line with the introduction and/or content of biology and chemistry.
- Physical information is used to help humans improve their own lives and strive to create a sustainable world for future generations
3b Is the relative weighting of the assessment objectives right for sciences, which includes biology, chemistry, physics and combined science?
x/ Yes /
/ No /
/ Not Sure
FSC welcomes DfE’s recognition of the critical importance of practical work in science subjects and endorses the 20% weighting given in AO3 and AO4 to experimental skills and methods. We also support the guidance that 10% should be assessed through direct internal assessment.
We have recommended in our response to Ofqual in the concurrent GCSE reform consultation that clear and strong guidance should be provided to ensure that this internal assessment includes the collection of primary data and avoids the use of prescriptive and sanitised practical activities which have little educational value in the teaching of science. In short, we would like to see a considerable improvement on some of the approaches used since GCSE coursework and controlled assessments were introduced in 1988 and 2009 respectively. The need for Awarding Bodies to develop assessment which promotes a culture of in-depth teaching and learning and encompasses the breadth of educational experiences gained through fieldwork was one of six main recommendations in the Outdoor Science report, published by FSC for ASE and King’s College London, launched in parliament in January 2011. See:
See also FSC’s response to Q3d.
3c Has the right practical content for science been identified to allow students to gain the skills to progress in the subject?
/ Yes / x
/ No /
/ Not Sure
The use of practicals
FSC welcomes the statement that specifications should enable students to develop and apply observational, practical, modelling, enquiry and problem-solving skills.
However, FSC is concerned that fieldwork is not mentioned specifically as a teaching and learning approach, either in the overall subject aims for science or in the introductions and subject content in the separate sciences. We recommend that fieldwork is reinstated, as a requirement across all science teaching. Without this it is likely that ‘Outdoor Science’ will continue to decline, and with it the opportunity to explore inspirational science which is presented in contexts that have clear links to everyday lives (including inter-disciplinary issues and themes - see previous section).
Recommendation
FSC recommends that the third bullet is amended, to read:
- develop and learn to apply observational, practical, modelling, enquiry and problem-solving skills, in the laboratory, through fieldwork and in other learning environments.
3d Do the proposed subject content and assessment objectives for sciences, which includes biology, chemistry, physics and combined science, provide assurance that essential knowledge taught at the earlier key stages is built upon and represented adequately?
/ Yes / x
/ No /
/ Not Sure
See also FSC response to Q3a.
FSC is concerned that the content in physics is unbalanced by an overly prescriptive approach to ensuring progression from earlier key stages. The subject content (including derived units and equations appendices) is twice as long as biology, mainly because it includes over 6 times as much recall. This appears to contradict the science subject aim ‘that there is no expectation that teaching (such) content should be repeated during the GCSE course where it has already been covered at an earlier stage’.
FSC recommends that the present level of ‘recall’ is reduced, to create space which can be used for themes and contexts which are weakly represented including sustainability (encompassing the effects of human activity) and earth science. It will also release time to carry out practicals, including fieldwork; these will be squeezed out by an unbalanced emphasis on ‘revision’ which, inevitably, will be largely classroom-based.
3e Will the proposed qualifications in sciences, which includes biology, chemistry, physics and combined science, secure sound progression for the purposes of further academic and vocational study?
/ Yes / x
/ No /
/ Not Sure
FSC welcomes the inclusion of themes linked to environment, its management and human impacts in biology and chemistry. We are concerned that physics is entirely devoid of such links. This will provide a weak foundation for progression into A levels (and HE), but particularly into vocational study where much of the subject is characterised by inter-disciplinary applications in research, manufacturing etc., often in environmental fields.
3f Will the combined science double award provide students with a sufficiently secure basis for progression to A level study of each of biology, chemistry and physics?
/ Yes / x
/ No /
/ Not Sure
FSC recommends that the ‘biological challenges of increasing food yields using fewer resources’ sub-section (within the Ecosystems section) becomes a general requirement for all GCSE science specifications, not (as currently presented) an exclusive requirement for single award biology. This sub-section should be an integral part to delivering the ‘sustainable world’ aim which applies to the whole of biology (see above).
- Geography
4a Do the proposed subject content and assessment objectives for geography cover the appropriate knowledge and understanding for GCSEs in this subject?
x/ Yes /
/ No -insufficiently demanding /
/ No- overly demanding
/ Not Sure
Subject aims and learning outcomes
FSC welcomes the breadth of aims and outcomes and recommends that all are retained. This should include the present focus on ‘illuminating the impact of change and of complex people-environment interactions’ and the developing of students’ competence in using a wide range of geographical investigative skills and approaches.
FSC also welcomes the specific references to fieldwork in two of the four enabling statements. We support the recognition that fieldwork is an essential requirement for a fully rounded GCSE geography education.
The references to fieldwork provide a coherent progression from the most recent draft National Curriculum Programmes of Study and Attainment Targets (published 8 July 2013).
Subject Content
Location knowledge
FSC welcomes and endorses the requirement to link locational knowledge and context of two countries/regions directly with other subject criteria (for example, ecosystems in science).
FSC recommends that the requirement for these cross-curricular links are made explicit in any guidance notes accompanying the GCSE subject content, and are targeted in subject inspection frameworks. Without this encouragement we question whether the links will be made in many secondary schools.
Place knowledge
Geography in the UK. FSC welcomes and endorses the inclusion of environmental challenges in this section.
People and environment: processes and interactions
FSC welcomes and endorses the balance and content of this section including the inclusion of issues related to sustainable use and management in Global Ecosystems.
Maps, fieldwork and geographical skills
FSC welcomes and endorses the requirements that:
- different approaches to fieldwork should be undertaken in at least two contrasting environments;
- fieldwork should involve the collection of primary data
- collected fieldwork data should be subjected to interpretation, presentation, application and evaluation.
FSC welcomes and endorses the requirement for fieldwork to account for at least 15% of the total weighting (<5% skills; <10% application). We are concerned, however, that assessment will be entirely through external examination – see FSC responses to Q4b & Q4c.
4b Is the relative weighting of the assessment objectives right for geography?