Can Students Handle the Jump in Academic Standards in the First Year of EBacc Implementation?
The first students will sit the new EBaccs in 2017, but Tutors International warn that pupils may need help from private tutors in earlier years to help them prepare them for the academically tougher exams.
Online, October 15, 2012 (Newswire.com) - The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) will replace GCSEs, according to Education Secretary, Michael Gove [1], with the first students sitting the new English, maths and science exams in the summer of 2017. The new qualifications will be more rigorous than GCSEs and concentrate on traditional academic subjects. EBacc certificates will be awarded to students with top grade passes in English, maths, the sciences, languages and the humanities.
Adam Caller, education consultant and founder of leading private tuition provider, Tutors International, notes that it will take a few years for the new exams to 'settle in', and that educational standards in pupils' earlier years will need to improve in the run-up to 2017, so that the first set of EBacc students are fully equipped to handle the new exams.
Mr Caller advocates the use of private tuition to supplement school-based learning, and get students ready for the new exams. "Parents whose children will be in the first years of the exam should consider coming to us as early as possible - so our specialist private tutors can bring them up to the standard of the old IGCSE, and ensure they are fully prepared and able to meet the demands of the more rigorous EBaccs."
Amidst criticism from some quarters [2], Mr Caller welcomes the changes: "I think this is fantastic news. Yes, there will be criticism of the new measures, and arguments that schools won't be ready and will be under-resourced to handle the new EBaccs, but this is a vital step to raise the standard of education in this country and enable the UK to be at the forefront of enterprise, scientific and creative endeavour."
More information about private tuition to help students prepare for the more academically rigorous EBacc certificates can be found at http://www.tutors-international.com, or by contacting Adam Caller at Tutors International.
References
[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/sep/17/gcse-exams-replaced-ebacc-michael-gove
[2] http://www.blottr.com/breaking-news/goves-ebacc-faces-mass-criticism-public