Lee Elliot Major warns his daughter of the many impending changes in education

D20150708_175416ear Maddy,

I know how excited you were completing your online application for a place at secondary school. It was so good to get this done well ahead of the deadline at the end of this month. A lot of families may have bought expensive houses to get their children into the most popular schools. But there are so many good state schools in walking distance from our home: I’m sure you’ll get the place you’re hoping for.

Moving to a new school can be an unsettling time. And I’m afraid this is just the start: you and your friends will go through lots and lots of changes to your education. There are so many I’ve lost count. Anyway I thought I should reassure you about the main ones that lie ahead.

You’ll take tests at the end of the year before you leave primary school. That means lots of extra revision as the results will be used to judge your school. Remember all that talk about Levels? For as long most teachers can remember these have measured how well children are doing at school. Well, schools are being asked to get rid of them now, and they are trying to work out what to do insteadMany just can’t let them go. Instead of Levels you should be given a new judgment – perhaps a number, or words like ‘emerging’, ‘expected’, or ‘exceeding’. Parents will be very confused!

During your first years of secondary school we’ll also have to get used to another way showing how much you have learnt: Levels have been abandoned there as well. Not only this, the things you need to learn for each subject have changed with the new national curriculum. No doubt you will also be told that you have a growth mindset. It’s the ‘In-thing’ in schools right now.

One day you may see a school inspector come into your class. They too have a whole new set of rules and are very important as they grade the whole school. Teachers are relieved that they won’t be graded for individual lessons. It’s a bit similar to you not being judged in Levels.

In three years’ time, you’ll begin work on the new GCSEs. Up to now they’ve been graded from the top A*grade to the lowest grade G. From now on they will be graded 1 to 9, where 9 means you have done extremely well. (By the way, you can’t get 9*) How well you do will come down mostly to how you perform in end-of-year tests. There will be little if any assessment by teachers through the year. Also, how your school will be judged in league tables is also changing.

Cuts to sixth form funding will probably mean that you’ll have to apply to another sixth form when you’ve finished your GCSEs. The A-levels you’ll do have changed in a similar way to GCSEs; AS levels (taken in the first year of sixth form) no longer count.

Now if you apply to university you’ll still do this with predicted A-level grades, not actual ones. (This is one thing that won’t be changed even though teachers get more than half of predicted grades wrong). Universities meanwhile are introducing their own entrance tests making the admissions system even more complicated. It’s also far from simple to get money to survive as a student – there is a mix of fees, loans and bursaries.

But please don’t worry: change is the only constant in education. It’s not clear how Government ministers will themselves be evaluated for any of this! And just imagine having to navigate all these changes if you didn’t have a Mum and Dad to help you along the way. In this fast changing world, who will look out for the children without the guidance and help they need?

All my love, Dad

Media enquiries

If you're a journalist with a question about our work, get in touch with Sam or Rocky on the number below. The number is also monitored out of hours.

E: [email protected] T: 0204 536 4642

Keep up to date with the latest news