Waddell (1978)

Notes on the text

Part I

Preliminary pages Contents, Membership
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Educational matters
Chapter 3 Structure of the examining system
Chapter 4 Cost
Chapter 5 Conclusions
Appendices

Part II

Preliminary pages Contents, Membership

Report of the Education Study Group (ESG)

Glossary, Introduction
Chapter 1 Feasibility of common exam system
Chapter 2 English
Chapter 3 Mathematics
Chapter 4 Science
Chapter 5 History
Chapter 6 Geography
Chapter 7 Modern languages
Chapter 8 Classics
Chapter 9 Commerce
Chapter 10 Social science
Chapter 11 Religious studies
Chapter 12 Craft design and technology
Chapter 13 Technical drawing
Chapter 14 Home economics
Chapter 15 Needlecraft and dress
Chapter 16 Art
Chapter 17 Music
Chapter 18 Further work
Appendix A List of witnesses
Appendix B Questions
Appendix C Statistics
Appendix D Joint examinations

Report of the Cost Study Group (CSG)

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Costs in 1976
Chapter 3 Costing a common system
Chapter 4 Changeover costs
Annexes

Report of the Steering Committee established to consider proposals for replacing the General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level and Certificate of Secondary Education examinations by a common system of examining

Chairman: Sir James Waddell CB

Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Education and Science and the Secretary of State for Wales by Command of Her Majesty July 1978

London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1978
© Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

Part I: Cmnd 7281-I
Part II: Cmnd 7281-II

Part I

Chapter 5 Conclusions
[pages 35 - 41]

109. In this concluding chapter we consider the impact of introducing a common system upon the institutions directly affected - schools and examining boards - and outline the sequence of preparations which seem to us necessary. We also summarise our conclusions and recommendations.

General

110. The main burden of preparing for a common system will fall to the boards. If the Secretary of State decides in favour of a common system, it would be desirable for the Department of Education and Science to invite the boards to set about forming groups on the principles outlined in Chapter 3. A number of boards are now considering their place in possible groupings and some are already discussing or have committed themselves to close relationships with other boards. Initiatives have been taken, partly in recognition of the decline in candidate numbers which is expected to persist until at least the mid 1990s, and partly no doubt in response to our own discussions.

111. It will be for the boards themselves to negotiate, as far as possible, the formation of the groups and their broad structure, with any necessary advice and assistance of the Department of Education and Science. In our view, however, it will be essential at an early stage for the Secretary of State to consider proposals for the name, composition and area of each group of boards and the general nature of their proposed structures, and to inform the boards in a proposed group whether she was satisfied and whether her Department would be able to endorse the certificates awarded by the group under a common system.

112. Once groups have been formed, it will be possible for the necessary further development of syllabuses and methods of assessment to begin. It will be necessary for this to be planned and undertaken on a joint basis by the GCE and CSE boards comprising a group, with the likely eventual responsibilities of the boards in mind. Alongside the educational preparations, the boards comprising a group will need to work out in detail the internal structure of their group and arrangements for the administration of their examinations. Certain basic points about each group will no doubt have to be settled at the outset before planning and development work begins, but a great many other matters will require attention in a period leading up to the introduction of a common system. We envisage that the task of central coordination will shift progressively from the Department once the Secretary of State is satisfied with the broad nature of the groups and that this task, as suggested in Chapter 3, will best be undertaken by the Schools Council.

113. Our conclusions and recommendations to a great extent leave intact the main advantages which the Schools Council saw in a common system. Pupils and parents should be spared much of the anxiety and misunderstanding that is felt to characterise the dual system and schools should be relieved of some of the administrative burdens associated with examining. A school would be free to choose between the examinations offered by the examining group in whose territory it is situated and those offered by other groups. In the latter case, however, the teachers in the school would not have the same opportunities for participation in the work of the boards concerned or in the development of new examinations. It seems to us likely that most schools would choose to take the examinations of their local group.

114. The introduction of a common system is likely to involve more teachers in responsibility for assessment of their pupils' performance, and wider reliance will need to be placed on a number of alternative examining techniques already introduced in O Level and CSE, such as course assessment and practical tests, in which the teacher is often involved, as well as on the more familiar written papers. A common system will continue to provide for school-based syllabuses and many teachers will want to maintain their involvement with syllabus development. In addition, teachers will be involved with preparing the examinations for a common system and all who teach examination candidates will have to familiarise themselves with the new syllabuses and assessment procedures before a common system is introduced.

115. Discussion about replacing O Level and CSE by a common system of examining at 16+ has been going on for many years and it seems to us desirable to end the uncertainty soon. If a common system is to be established, we think it may be helpful for our report to outline a sequence of the events which, as we see them, lead up to the introduction of a common system. This would provide, subject to decisions by the Secretary of State, a framework within which the Department, the boards and the central coordinating body could work and would offer the users an indication of when changes are likely to take place.

116. The Schools Council believed that a common system 'would be fully operational five years after a decision by the Secretary of State ...', although their report recognised that it 'would not be easy to keep to the proposed timetable' and that solutions were still needed to a number of outstanding problems, particularly on the administration of a common system. Our own view of timing takes account of certain new factors: the need to negotiate groupings of boards, the very substantial programme of further work called for in the report of the Educational Study Group, and the importance which we attach to agreement on criteria for the new examinations between the boards and the central coordinating body.

117. The necessary preparations must be thorough and we have no doubt that the Secretary of State will want to be assured, before a change is made, that the preparations have been undertaken successfully and that a common system can be established with confidence and without disruption. It will be especially important to avoid confusion on the part of candidates and users in the early stages of a common system. There is therefore a very strong case for making the change at the same time throughout England and Wales. If this is accepted, it is difficult to see how the system can be introduced until each examining group has completed its preparations at least in all the main subjects. In the meantime some of the joint examinations now in being may well continue on the present basis (leading to the award of O Level or CSE certificates); this will be useful and will in any case be necessary where schools have entered into a commitment to these examinations.

118. It will be for the Secretary of State to decide whether to publish our report and for her to decide what steps should then be taken. If she decides in favour of a common system administered by the kind of examining groups we propose, there will need to be a substantial period following an announcement to that effect during which the boards negotiate on the formation of groups and their structure. It seems unlikely that this process could be completed until well into 1979 (although it would be possible to move more quickly in Wales).

119. Once formed the groups would provide a foundation for the further development work needed on syllabuses and assessment procedures. The Schools Council appear to have assumed that two years would suffice. The feasibility studies took about this time to design and further work can, of course, draw on the experience since gained. But the further work now required will be laying the foundations for a new system rather than for feasibility schemes for a small number of candidates. The preparatory work must accordingly be the more thorough, if the interests of the candidates in the early years of a common system are to be protected. Moreover the development work must now cover fully all the main subjects and remedy the various weaknesses identified in the joint examinations. Although some groups will be able to move more quickly than others, we regard two years as the minimum needed for these preparations and consider that it would be prudent to make allowance in some cases for the possibility of a third year being required. The timetable must take into account the need for involvement of the central coordinating body in agreeing criteria for syllabuses and assessment procedures.

120. Some teachers will, of course, have been involved in the design of new syllabuses. When the new syllabuses are ready, however, schools will need time to consider them and to decide which to use, and the majority of teachers who prepare candidates for examinations at 16+ will then require time to prepare for teaching in line with the new syllabuses. Once the schools are ready pupils would be able to embark on courses leading to examinations under a common system, to be taken two years later.

121. We consider that it would help to avoid delay if the Secretary of State were to set a definite target date at which the boards should aim. Bearing in mind the sequence and nature of events described above, we consider that the new syllabuses might be introduced by the autumn of 1983, leading to the first examinations under a common system in 1985. It would, of course, be for the Secretary of State to consider whether in certain circumstances the target date might have to be deferred.

122. We are aware that if the Secretary of State decides in favour of a common system, on the basis we have described, the changes and adjustments which will be required will present difficult problems for many of those involved, especially the examining boards. But we are clear from the study we have made that the problems are not insoluble and that solutions can be found without damage to the educational interests of prospective examination candidates.

Summary

123. The remaining paragraphs of this chapter summarise our response to the questions posed by the Secretary of State about a common system of examining at 16+, and the main recommendations which we make about preparations for a common system if the Secretary of State decides that it should be introduced.

Educational matters

124. A common system is, in essence, a means of providing examinations for all the candidates for whom GCE O Level and CSE examinations are now intended and of awarding them certificates with the same title and with grades on a single scale. We consider such a system to be feasible in that examinations of the various kinds which a common system can encompass could enable all the candidates to be graded without the examinations adversely affecting their education.

125. After considering the report of our Educational Study Group, we judged that in a number of subjects feasibility depends - on present evidence - upon the use in various forms and in varying degrees of alternative examination papers and tests. These alternatives require candidates to make a choice before the examination and in certain cases require preparation for the examination to be undertaken by candidates in separate groups for at least a part of the course. In other subjects the evidence suggests that a common examination, in which all candidates take the same paper or tests, although possibly with differentiated questions, is feasible or may become so after more development I work has been done. We consider that although these various forms of examination would be needed the main potential advantages which the Schools Council saw in a common system could still be realised.

126. A common system must command confidence outside the schools and particularly the confidence of users of examination certificates, notably employers, institutions of higher and further education and professional bodies. We believe that confidence is likely to be secured if the new system is seen as maintaining at least the same standards and degree of national comparability as the present examinations, and if they serve equally well the purposes of attestation and qualification.

127. To ensure that further preparation for a common system is soundly, based and to ensure confidence, we recommend that:

(i) criteria should be agreed nationally for syllabuses and the examinations (covering common and alternative papers, the assessment and' moderation techniques employed, and the use of subject titles);

(ii) provision should be made for both school-based and board-based examinations and the same criteria for syllabuses and assessment procedures should apply to both;

(iii) further development of syllabuses and examinations for a common system should take into account the evidence and judgement in our Educational Study Group's report and should be coordinated so as to ensure that new work builds on the best experience already gained;

(iv) arrangements for central coordination of 16+ examinations should be strengthened and a central body (probably the Schools Council) should be responsible for securing agreement on items (i) and (ii) above and for coordinating further preparations ((iii) above).

128. Our task was to recommend an administrative structure for a common system which would rest on both the present families of boards. This was undertaken on the basis of four principles - the resources and staff of the present boards are essential to a new system; there should be a minimum of disruption in making administrative changes; a new structure should not disrupt A Level and other examining; and the structure should help to ensure that certificates have a national currency.

129. After considering several possibilities and taking into account the views of the boards, we concluded that a new structure should be based on cooperation between boards in groups. We recommend that:

(i) a group should comprise at least one each of the present GCE and CSE boards and that a group should be identified with a particular area of the country;

(ii) the examination certificates should be issued in the name of the group, not in the name of a constituent board;

(iii) the internal structure and distribution of work within a group should be largely a matter for the group itself to determine, although it would be necessary for a group to have a central council to take decisions on matters concerning the group as a whole (eg those arising from (ii) above) and for the structure to take account of the needs of schools wishing to develop their own school-based examinations;

(iv) appropriate interests should be represented on the senior body of a group, without anyone of these having a majority voice. These interests are: the teachers (at least some of whose representatives should be chosen by and accountable to their colleagues); the universities; the local education authorities; and users (including employment and further education interests and parents);

(v) whilst in practice most schools and colleges are likely to take the examinations of the group in whose area they are situated, they should be free to choose examinations from another group;

(vi) when agreement in principle has been reached between boards about the formation of a group they should seek the Secretary of State's approval of the proposed group and its structure;

(vii) an officer of the Department of Education and Science should countersign, on the Secretary of State's behalf, the certificates issued under a common system as at present.

131. We were not constituted to conduct detailed negotiations with the boards and we recognised that, in any case, the formation of groups of boards cannot be accomplished unless and until the Secretary of State decides that a common system should be introduced. Nevertheless, we considered the various factors likely to determine the number of possible groups and believe that the Secretary of State will need an indication of this before reaching a decision. In England we consider it unlikely that more than four groups of boards could be formed on a sound basis. In Wales a single body (the WJEC) is already responsible for both O Level and CSE examining and it would provide the natural authority for the Principality.

Cost

132. We have examined the changes in cost that could be involved in operating a common system on the lines envisaged in this report, instead of the present dual system. We found that in 1976 the cost of the O Level and CSE examinations (on the basis of certain assumptions concerning the cost of A Levels) was about £13.5 million. Had a common system been in operation in that year it could have cost between £500,000 less and £3.5 million more per annum. Our view is that these extreme figures are very unlikely to be realised in the event and that the change in annual cost would fall well within this range. The estimates should also be seen in the context of likely changes in the cost of examining due to other factors which will operate whether or not a common system is introduced. The maximum once and for all cost of changing to a common system, mostly incurred by syllabus development additional to that ordinarily undertaken by the boards, could be about £0.5 million per annum for 3 years; in our view the development work will be spread over a longer period and the total net cost of the changeover will be substantially less than this annual maximum figure suggests.

Sequence and timing of events

133. We consider that it is important to end uncertainty about the future of 16+ examinations. If the Secretary of State decides in favour of a common system the necessary preparations will, however, take a considerable time if they are to be thorough and if a new system is to be introduced without disruption and simultaneously throughout the country. In our view the new syllabuses might be introduced by 1983, leading to the award of the new certificates in 1985. We recommend that, when groups of boards have been formed, the Secretary of State should set a target date for the establishment of a common system and that the new system should be introduced at the same time throughout England and Wales.