More rigorous GCSEs are good for business – but nurturing grit is also vital
WHETHER you have a son or daughter who has been nervously awaiting their exam results or you’re a high-tech manufacturer hoping to add to your pool of skilled technicians, we all want young people to get the chance to fulfil their potential – not just in work but in life. With the latest GCSE results out, it’s time to take stock of what we ask of students and how well-prepared they are for the world of work.
Like every year, the 2014 results are full of peaks and troughs from the perspective of employers; it’s great to see grades in maths on the rise and the number of early GCSE entries dropping significantly, addressing some of our concerns about the exam treadmill that young people face. But there is genuine concern that entries into single sciences have fallen off a cliff-edge. Science is fundamental to the UK developing a highly-skilled workforce for the future, so we must get more students into school laboratories in the years ahead or the consequences could be catastrophic.
But the question goes beyond individual subjects. Recent reforms have helped increase rigour in our exam system, but more must be done to ensure that a GCSE pass is an accurate measure of not just how well someone does in the exam hall, but also of the skills they can bring to the workplace.
Functional skills in maths and English matter, and need to be reflected in exams. The removal of speaking and listening skills from the English GCSE grade is a real worry.
And given the draw of London as a place for young people to work, we must ensure that GCSEs across the UK are directly comparable, both in rigour and content.
As important as academic results are, businesses also need young people with grit, emotional intelligence and a willingness to go the extra mile for their team in work. We’ve called on Ofsted to start focusing more on judging schools with this in mind.
We need to create a system that better reflects how well a school’s culture nurtures the behaviours and attitudes young people need. And with more studying to 18, we even have to question the value of putting so much emphasis on exams at 16. High-quality academic and vocational routes are needed all the way to 18 to support young people into work. They should be the focus of all schools and colleges.
Nearly half of all firms are worried that students making the jump from the classroom to the meeting room do not possess enough knowledge of their chosen careers or relevant work experience. This reflects business opinion that the careers advice system is simply failing. The shift of responsibility for careers advice to schools has not worked. Government and firms also have a role in fixing the problem. It cannot be shouldered by schools alone.
We need Local Brokers to build more and better relationships between schools, colleges and local companies, to inspire our next generation of engineers and entrepreneurs, and to make clear all the options that are on the table.
The journey we all make from school to work can be daunting. So while we can celebrate the successes of this year’s GCSE results, we cannot ignore the fact that reforms are needed to give all our young people the best possible chance of a successful career.