There have been calls to pause changes to GCSE Maths which will lead to many exams taken in November each year being scrapped. From 2027, students will only be able to take their exam in November if they are re-sitting the subject. One head of maths in a County Tyrone school said that was "pulling the rug out from under pupils who need those structured manageable steps to succeed".
But the Department of Education (DE) said that schools had been given "sufficient notice to plan for the revised arrangements". In some schools, pupils take their Maths GCSE exams in stages throughout the course, using a staggered approach. For example, at Dean Maguirc College in County Tyrone pupils sit some exams in November and summer of year 11.
That gives them a GCSE grade which they can increase by sitting more maths exams in year 12. But from 2027, they will not be able to do that anymore as the November exams will only be for students who have finished their GCSE Maths course and want to re-sit the subject. The decision has been taken by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) exam board and DE.
At Dean Maguirc College, an all-ability school, 15-year-old Maeve said maths was a vital subject to learn. "It's to do with everyday life and you need it for loads of stuff like money and most jobs," she said. She said that being able to sit some of her maths exams in November gave her more time to revise for her other GCSEs in the summer.
"They're not all crammed together," she said. "For maths, like, there's a lot of stuff to learn so when you have the one exam to do in November you can learn all of that for November, you don't have to keep looking over it until summertime." Maeve said that, in her opinion, the decision was "not fair". Fifteen-year-old Cara is also currently studying maths for GCSE at Dean Maguirc College and she also has concerns.
"Getting half of your exam done with in November I found it really eased the pressure," she said. "And it allowed me to focus half of my subject into June." As she had achieved a C-star grade by the end of year 11, she is hoping to make her grade higher by sitting more maths GCSE exams in year 12. She said that being able to divide the maths exams up and take them in stages benefitted everyone and is worried about the impact of the changes.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
