Exam Reform

Paul Blomfield Excerpts

Monday 17th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. There is a consensus among business organisations, from the Federation of Small Businesses to the CBI to the Institute of Directors, that the current GCSE offer is inadequate and that we need reform. Particularly on literacy and numeracy, in our consultation paper issued today we make it clear that we would like GCSE English and mathematics to include sufficient rigour so that employers can be guaranteed that students are properly literate, properly numerate, and ready for the workplace.

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

Does the Secretary of State accept that a one-size-fits-all final exam is not the best way of assessing talent across the whole ability range in core subjects, and that it is no preparation for a world of work in which no employer would dream of appointing or evaluating staff on the basis of a single closed paper?

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s question, but he seems to be inviting me to move towards a two-tier system because he believes that one size would not fit all. I reject the view implicit in his argument that the overwhelming majority of our students are not capable of doing what they do in other jurisdictions in showing at the age of 16 that they have mastered the core academic subjects and are ready for further study and the world of work.