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Education and Inspections Bill

moved Amendment No. 98: Page 52, line 27, at end insert- ““(6A) The governing body of a maintained school may opt to provide a course of study in the core subjects for the fourth key stage as mentioned in subsection (3)(a) and (c) above including the separate study of biology, physics and chemistry, that lead to the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) as an alternative to one approved under section 98 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000 for the purposes of section 96 of that Act. (6B) Where the governing body opts to provide a course of study under subsection (6A), section 96 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000 shall not apply in relation to the provision of that course of study. (6C) In relation to any performance targets or tables, the International General Certificate of Secondary Education shall be considered acceptable at Grades A*, A, B or C in lieu of a General Certificate of Secondary Education on a subject for subject basis. (6D) In this section ““the International General Certificate of Secondary Education”” means the qualification of that name awarded by- (a) University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, (b) Edexcel Ltd.”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, in moving Amendment No. 98, I speak also to Amendments Nos. 102 and 103. These amendments would allow the maintained sector to follow alternative examination routes in order to drive up rigour and standards in schools. Amendment No. 98 would allow pupils in maintained schools to take the IGCSE in science and mathematics and ensure that the qualification is considered acceptable in lieu of a GCSE for the purposes of government league tables. When we previously dealt with this issue in Committee, I was pleased that the Minister recognised that the IGCSE is an ““effective programme of study””. The international GCSE has been offered since 1988 and is recognised by universities and employers worldwide. More than 4,000 schools across the world, including more than 200 UK schools, teach international GCSE, which is taken in more than 100 countries with 350,000 entries a year. This is tried and tested. Two exam boards, Cambridge and Edexcel, already offer the IGCSE. It is recognised by UCAS, which accepts the IGCSE in lieu of the GCSE. Needless to say, Governments overseas have seen the light and approved the IGCSE at national and federal levels. The take-up of the exam in diverse overseas curricula is striking. The United States is ahead of us on this. The Florida state legislature lists the International GCSE as a ““rigorous academic programme””. IGCSEs are recognised by the Department of Education of the Commonwealth of Virginia as equivalent to its own state standards. What is more striking is that this Government support the IGCSE—but only overseas. The government-funded British Council delivers the IGCSE to over 45,000 candidates a year from all around the world. Noble Lords will understand my surprise on reading the words of the Minister in another place, Jim Knight, who stated: "““Inclusion of the IGCSE would be contrary to the policy that the basics must be achieved by everyone if the IGCSE has not first been proven to meet those standards””." Clearly, the IGCSE has proven standards. It is good enough for British children overseas, but not for children in the maintained sector at home, who could benefit so much. The Chancellor is committed to closing the gap between the maintained and the independent sector, yet as usual that means matching pound for pound—matching the quantity and not the quality of provision. That is nothing less than unacceptable. The Minister mentioned a report from the QCA on this subject in Committee. We have not read the report, but I suspect that the QCA will continue to dig in its heels. Yet what surprises me is that the Secretary of State has not seen the evidence of his own Government’s international practice and that of other Governments. A news report from the Independent on 2 September showed that as many as half of all independent schools have now adopted the exam. Head teachers at independent schools say that the GCSE is no longer sufficient preparation for A-levels. We have debated the inadequacies of the new science curriculum. The maths curriculum has seen some improvement in the recent commitment to scrap maths coursework, and I hope that the Minister will confirm that policy today. The IGCSE applies that valuable concept to all subjects. Christopher Ray, High Master of Manchester Grammar School, has said: "““We wanted the coursework-free option because the coursework that is demanded for GCSE maths is very routine and very undemanding””." It is sad that we can only quote today from the independent sector. The maintained sector is being denied the privilege of choosing its exams; it is legally prevented from making those choices. I expect that Members on the Benches to my right and the Benches opposite would agree with us that that must change. Amendment No. 102 would change the current system so that it is not necessary to take an AS-level in order to complete an A-level course. It is based on the recognition that the artificial split between AS and A2 has had a detrimental effect on education at sixth-form level, which has become exacerbated by an increasing obsession with the modularisation of the qualification. I do not propose to abolish the AS-level; it is clear that there is a need for a one-year course for pupils who do not intend to take a subject further. I do not have any objection in principle to the idea that this course can be upgraded to an A-level at a later point. However, I fear that the AS-level has diluted what was a rigorous, linear course of study under the two-year A-level. Many pupils have found that the AS has forced them to cut back on extra-curricular activities. The summer term in the first year of sixth form, when sixth formers often take on extra responsibilities in the absence of those in the final year, has become disrupted by study leave and examinations. The artificial split of a two-year course of study into two one-year courses has resulted in students following up to 12 loosely connected courses and being assessed 12 different times. Schools should have the choice to offer a rigorous, linear course that allows for the development of intellectual maturity. We have debated science and maths, but let us not forget the arts subjects. Attainment in English literature, history, geography and languages improves over time. Graham Able, the head of Dulwich College, says that A-levels are, "““lacking in stimulus. They are putting in things that are simply to examined in little chunks but have little real value. We are wasting a lot of time doing coursework. It is doing simple things more mechanically””." It should be extremely worrying that universities are already indicating that some of the qualifications I mentioned are superior to the A-level. If good schools adopt the most rigorous qualifications of the international baccalaureate, the international A-level and the Cambridge Pre-U, then the gap between those schools and poor schools will be exacerbated further. Amendment No. 103 protects the status of the international baccalaureate. Although it is currently approved by the QCA for teaching in maintained schools, the amendment would give the qualification statutory protection. I feel that such protection would be useful: it would reinforce the respectability of the exam if Parliament were to approve it in this manner. I would also like to expose the inconsistency of permitting the international baccalaureate diploma, yet not the international GCSE. I think that it is particularly inconsistent given that the international baccalaureate diploma is approved by the QCA for the pre-16 age group. The Minister needs to explain in which respects the international baccalaureate differs from the international GCSE. I appreciate that it is a level 3 rather than a level 2 qualification, but the fact remains that a school could offer the international baccalaureate to gifted and talented students at key stage 4, but could not offer others the IGCSE at this stage. I look forward to the Minister’s response to these amendments, in particular to my AmendmentNo. 98—which I hope he can accept in the interests of consistent opportunities and standards for all children at all schools in this country. I beg to move.