Position Paper on Early and Mutiple Entry to GCSE Mathematics
12 May 2011
ACME has produced a
position statement on Early and Multiple Entry to GCSE
Mathematics.
ACME is concerned at the
increasing trend towards students being entered early for GCSE
mathematics and believes that the practice of early entry has a
negative effect on most students‟ mathematical education, hindering
their progression to a wide range of subjects post-16 and in Higher
Education.
Professor Dame Julia Higgins
FRS, Chair of ACME said:
"We are seeing a worrying increase in the numbers of
students being entered early for GCSE mathematics, to the detriment
of almost all students. It's no longer a case of a careful
selection of the brightest students being pushed through early -
it's whole cohorts now, whether or not it's in their long term
interests as individuals. The pressure on schools to improve their
standing in the league tables provides an incentive to act in the
school's best interests rather than those of the individual
students. The Government must act now to define more clearly
the requirement that all students study mathematics to the end of
Key Stage 4, irrespective of whether a GCSE has been achieved
earlier."