Politeia's Call to Scrap GCSE Modules Enacted by Education Secretary

Last month Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, announced major reform of the exam system, with GCSEs being replaced with a new English Baccalaureate. In our blog, Sheila Lawlor, David Abulafia and Jonathan Clark welcomed the changes.

One of the changes that was announced was the scrapping of modular examinations. Politeia called for this change in Comparing Standards: Academic and Vocation, 16-19 year olds.

One of the reccommendations made by the Politeia Education Commission was that 'the trend to modular examinations and the use of coursework... should be entirely reversed. Qualifications should be gained entirely by externally set and marked examinations taken at the end of the course.'

With his new reforms, Michael Gove is reversing the trend towards modules and coursework.

Comparing Standards: Academic and Vocation, 16-19 year olds
was written by the Politeia Education Commission, David Burghes, Herbert Lutz, John Marenbon, Shyam Patiar, Sig Prais, Alan Smithers, Robert Tombs and Chris Woodhead.

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The Defenestration of Stephen Hester: What Now for the RBS?

writes David B. Smith

Friday 14th June: Stephen Hester may be leaving RBS: but the problems with which the Chancellor must grapple are of a different order. Large banks, be they public or private, avoid the discipline of competition. When it comes to the RBS, even a monolithic ‘good’ bank would be too large on normal competition grounds. RBS should therefore be brought to market as a series of small retail banks.

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