Maths qualifications: Members of the City & Guilds Council, along with other supporters of the organisation, recently sent a letter to The Times
02 April 2014
Professor Steve Sparks
FRS, Chair of the Advisory Commitee on Mathematics Education
added his name to the letter below from
City & Guilds Council, which discusses alternative
qualifications to GCSEs.
See
ACME's discussion paper where ACME considers an
alternative qualification to better meet the needs of
those who reach 16 without GCSE Mathematics Grade C
or equivalent and who therefore must continue to do
mathematics. This adds to ACME's previous
work on post-16 mathematics qualifications for those with a
Grade B or C at GCSE Mathematics.
Please look at for further discussion from ACME on
this in the near future.
Letter to The Times
Members of the City & Guilds Council, along with other
supporters of the organisation, recently sent a letter to The
Times, raising concerns about the Government's proposed changes for
achieving the necessary English and maths requirements in
apprenticeships. If the proposals go through, GCSEs will be the
only way to meet these requirements:
Sir,
The Government recently announced further investment for
apprenticeships.
We agree that apprenticeships are central to developing the
skilled workforce of the future and it is encouraging to see
cross-party support for them. However, we are concerned that by
2017 GCSEs will be the only way to meet maths and English
requirements for apprenticeships.
Apprenticeships are about learning hands-on skills and
gaining experience in the workplace. It makes sense that maths and
English requirements for apprenticeships should be contextualised
and practical too; this is not the case with GCSEs, which are
primarily academic in focus.
Students know that maths and English are important. The City
& Guilds Group's research shows that 69% of young people
believe maths can help them succeed, but also that 27% cannot see
its relevance to their career goals. 54% of 16-18 year-olds think
maths should involve more real-life scenarios. With National
Numeracy reporting that poor adult maths skills could cost our
economy £20 billion a year we should not let this problem
persist.
The Government recently announced plans for a core maths
qualification as a contextualised alternative for students who do
not take A-level maths. Why not offer a similar option at GCSE
level for students after 16? The Government can call it a GCSE if
it wants to; as long as the qualification is practical,
contextualised and rigorous.
Our economic future depends on a workforce that is not
afraid of numbers and can apply maths, and indeed English, in the
real world. GCSEs in their current form aren't the only solution;
the sooner the Government addresses this, the better.
Sir John Armitt CBE FREng FCGI, Chairman, City &
Guilds and the Olympic Delivery Authority
Chris Jones, Chief Executive, The City & Guilds
Group
Professor Dame Julia Higgins DBE FRS FREng FCGI,
Vice-President, City & Guilds
Richard Sermon MBE HonFCGI, Vice-Chairman, City &
Guilds
Sir Mike Tomlinson CBE HonFCGI, former HM Chief Inspector of
Schools and Head of OFSTED
Valerie Bayliss CB FCGI, Former Vice-Chairman of City &
Guilds
Steven Beharrell
Ian Billyard, Principal, Leeds College of
Building
David Blake JP, Masons' Company
Mary Crowley OBE, President, International Federation for
Parenting Education
Air Commodore Peter Drissell FCGI, Director, Aviation
Security, Civil Aviation Authority
Dame Jackie Fisher DBE FCGI, CEO, Barnfield
Federation
Dr Paul Golby CBE FREng FCGI, Chairman,
EngineeringUK
Professor Brenda Gourley FCGI, former Vice-Chancellor, Open
University
Professor Alison Halstead FCGI, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Aston
University
Professor Chris Hankin FCGI, Director, Institute for Security
Science & Technology, Imperial College
Vikki Heywood CBE, Chairman of Council, Royal Society of
Arts
Professor Sir Deian Hopkin FCGI, President, National Library
of Wales
Michael Howell HonFCGI, Clothworkers' Company and former
Chairman, City & Guilds
David Illingworth, Past President, ICAEW
Blane Judd FCGI, Executive Consultant
Dame Asha Khemka DBE, Principal and Chief Executive, West
Nottinghamshire College
Michael Laurie, Saddlers' Company
Mike Lee, Needlemakers' Company
Marie-Therese McGivern, Principal, Belfast Metropolitan
College
Peter McKee, Former President, TRL Technology
Andrew Morgan, Fishmongers' Company
Toni Pearce, President, National Union of
Students
John Randall FCGI, Independent Chair, Police Negotiating
Board
Dr Maggie Semple OBE FCGI, Chief Executive, The Experience
Corps
Iain Smith, CEO, Network for Skills Ltd
Andy Smyth, Accredited Programmes Development Manager, TUI
UK
Professor Stephen Sparks FRS, Chair of the Advisory Committee
on Mathematics Education, The Royal Society
Daniel Stewart-Roberts, Grocers' Company
Pat Stringfellow MBE HonFCGI, Managing Director, Human
Resource Solutions
Peter Taylor, Director, Goldsmiths' Centre
Dr Yvonne Thompson CBE, Managing Director, Asap
Communications
Dr The Hon Sandy Todd, Salters' Company
Clive Turrell, Joiners & Ceilers' Company
Dawn Ward OBE FCGI, Chief Executive and Principal, Burton
& South Derbyshire College
Jacquie Wathen, Mercers' Company
Simon Wethered, Consultant, Charles Russell
Solicitors
Dr David Wilbraham FCGI, Treasurer, City &
Guilds
Tom Wilson, Director, unionlearn