The education system for 11 to 16-year-olds is too focused on academic learning and written exams – and reform is “urgently needed”, a House of Lords report calling for the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) to be axed has warned.
The current system is limiting pupils’ opportunities to study a broad and balanced curriculum and to develop core skills, the Education for 11–16 Year Olds Committee’s report published on Tuesday claims.
After hearing from witnesses including pupils, teachers, school leaders, academics and ministers, the cross-party committee argues change is needed to the 11–16 curriculum and assessment model to “create more space for technical, digital and creative areas of study, and reduce the burden of GCSE exams”.
The report, Requires improvement: urgent change for 11–16 education, also calls on the Government to immediately scrap the EBacc – a Government measure introduced in 2010 which aims to ensure pupils take English, maths, science, geography or history, and a language at GCSE.
The Government’s aim is to see 90% of pupils in England studying the EBacc subject combination at GCSE by 2025.
“The evidence we have received is compelling,” the committee’s chair Lord Jo Johnson said.
“Change to the education system for 11 to 16-year-olds is urgently needed, to address an overloaded curriculum, a disproportionate exam burden and declining opportunities to study creative and technical subjects.”
