Students are being set up to fail by compulsory GCSE resits | Letters
Readers respond to Polly Toynbee’s article calling for mandatory exam resits to be scrapped in a first step towards education reformI was delighted to read Polly Toynbee’s demolition of compulsory...
By Guardian Staff · The Guardian Opinion
Readers respond to Polly Toynbee’s article calling for mandatory exam resits to be scrapped in a first step towards education reform I was delighted to read Polly Toynbee’s demolition of compulsory GCSE resits ( How can we stop destroying the prospects of a generation? Scrapping compulsory GCSE resits will be a start, 24 August ). Of course, level 2 qualifications in maths and English should be accessible to all school leavers who need them. However, the depressing treadmill of resitting resits is thin educational gruel and Michael Gove should be ashamed for espousing such a killjoy policy. As a governor at a large further education college in Bedford, I find it depressing to receive data at every single board meeting focusing on GCSE resit results for thousands of students who “failed” maths and English just a few months previously. Speaking to students and staff, it is apparent that resitting exams is counterproductive. Compulsory GCSE resits are a negative learning experience, offering no reflection on how to improve. In most cases students merely fail again. Continue reading...