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I recently had the privilege of attending Bacc to the Drawing Board, an Edge-organised online event exploring the possibility of a new National Baccalaureate. The event centred around a newly appointed ‘Minister for Schools’, brilliantly role-played by Dame Alison Peacock, with experts sharing potential approaches to the introduction of a new baccalaureate qualification. As a member of the House of Commons Education Select Committee, and with a focus on a topic that I am already deeply passionate about, the event provided a rich learning experience.
One critical issue raised during the event was the mental health of teachers and students. Before introducing any new qualifications or curriculum, this urgently needs addressing. The sector has a clear problem with teacher retention. There are also currently around 200,000 young people disconnected from education, including so-called “ghost children” – those absent from school more often than they are present.
Recently, I introduced a parliamentary bill urging local authorities to maintain a register of children not in schools. This would be just one part of a solution. Crucially, as we seek innovative new ways of delivering education, it is imperative to identify areas in the current system where individuals are struggling. Only then can we hope to improve teacher retention and help disengaged learners to find their way back into school.
During the session, one of the speakers highlighted the well-respected International Baccalaureate (IB) as a possible template for a national ‘equivalent’. While I felt his was an intriguing starting point, I also believe it is important to develop our own unique curriculum and qualifications, catering specifically to UK needs.
More generally, however, I agreed with many of the speakers’ sentiments that we must move away from our obsession with exams, especially in Year 11. This is a time when young people urgently need guidance and preparation for further education or employment. Unfortunately, the current heavy focus on exams during this period creates more stress for young people, which is not the best use of this precious time. Any National Baccalaureate must tackle this, potentially by diversifying the methods we use to assess young people’s knowledge and skills.
One suggestion from Rethinking Assessment caught my eye: that young people only take assessment when they feel ready. To me, this ties into topical discussions around a lifelong learning credit system. Parliament recently introduced a new lifelong learning bill. While this is focused on Higher Education, the discussion made me wonder: why not introduce a similar system in schools, allowing young people to familiarise themselves with it early on? True lifelong learning does not begin with HE, after all. Additionally, Rethinking Assessment is piloting a range of intriguing alternative assessment methods in schools across the UK. Once the results are in, I hope to bring this as evidence before the Education Select Committee.
The topic of evaluation, particularly in the digital era, also caught my attention. We have all heard debates about the perceived differences in the difficulty of qualifications, even where standards exist – such as between A-levels. Whatever the future holds for our education system, for any change to have legitimacy, it is essential that we establish rigorous monitoring to maintain consistency and fairness in its delivery. This will be a huge task, especially if we introduced a wider range of assessment techniques and less easily standardised concepts such as digital portfolios and micro credentials. It is nevertheless a vital practical consideration as we move forward.
The main consensus from the discussion was that effective implementation of any new model requires buy-in from all stakeholders. Whether teachers, students, parents, or employers, we must understand everybody’s unique needs and aspirations and address them up front. To me, a prime example that this buy-in is currently lacking comes in the form of teachers’ strikes.
While strikes often receive headline attention for being about pay, UK teachers in fact earn above average in the OECD. I believe, then, that the overly heavy focus on funding occludes other issues contributing to teacher dissatisfaction. Covid-19 would be the obvious example – it presented immense challenges for teachers and their hard work is not yet over. They are now burdened with the task of catch-up learning, for which they need greater support. Ultimately, we must identify and tackle the root cause of problems faced by all stakeholders. While the issues vary between groups, this ultimately boils down to working together. Collaboration, here, is key.
The event explored many points that warrant deeper discussion, and which I hope can translate into meaningful change. In my role as co-chair of the Schools, Learning, and Assessment APPG, my goal to ensure that every future manifesto – regardless of party lines – has ambitions for something similar to a National Baccalaureate. But it’s vital to exercise prudence here. Fools rush in, but it is only by working together carefully that we can hope to shape education for the benefit of young people everywhere, and for society as a whole.
