Sir Tony is backing a proposal to replace the current exams system in England with a new qualification that would involve “rigorous forms of continuous assessment”, between the ages of 16 and 18.
Instead of high-pressure GCSE exams, 16-year-olds would have a series of “low-stakes assessments” to help inform their education choices and hold schools to account.
The tests would include a mixture of moderated teacher assessments and standardised tests.
Not because it will be better, but because it must be new, right? Obvious, innit?
Strangely, Finland, that supposedly best education system in the world, that age is exactly when that system is becoming very selective and test oriented……
Once I graduated, no one cared what qualifications I had. Even for the jobs I had before I went, there was only passing interest.
I guess it is still important in the public sector and education ?
Why is that cunt Bliar in the news so much all of a sudden? Is he planning a political comeback?
Ah, Tony “Education, Education, Education” Blair.
“Everyone has the right to go to University” didn’t mean virtually everyone who wants to go to University can go, but 25 years later we now have 40% of the population being graduates.
“For every student who got a First in the early 1990s, nearly 20 do now. Masters’ degrees, meanwhile, are nearly ten times as common as they were”. https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2019/08/the-great-university-con-how-the-british-degree-lost-its-value
“Only half of all UK graduates are working in a field that relates to their degree after leaving university, according to new research published today.
In addition, 96 per cent say they had switched careers by the time they reached the age of 24”. https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/half-of-uk-graduates-do-not-work-in-their-field-of-study-survey-reveals-9574042.html
And unfortunately they aren’t Doctors, Dentists, Scientists or Engineers, they’re graduates in ‘grievance studies’, ‘Literae Humaniores’ (Yes Johnson minor, I’m looking at you boy), ‘art history’, ‘environmental studies’, ‘what can we find to nail white culture with this week’ etc. etc (cont.P94).
Blair wants people to love him. He has no ability to get people to do that by providing them with anything useful, so he has to give away useless things like devalued degrees. He has just realised that even the tiny hurdle of an easy and devalued “exam” will exclude a few people: those with an exam phobia, those who are sick or indisposed or who can’t be bothered to turn up on the day. This is him ironing out a small wrinkle in his plan. Give it a couple of years, and he’ll come up with a plan to allow truants and dinghy people into university.
“Give it a couple of years, and he’ll come up with a plan to allow … dinghy people into university.”
Study Oceanography at Goodwin University. Guaranteed admission if you have 2 Ds and a pulse.
@ Bloke in Wales
Whenever Tony Blair sticks his nose in this MAC cartoon seems the most appropriate response.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4874748/MAC-Tony-Blair-speaking-again.html
For all his political nouse, Tony Blair must be the dumbest fuck that was ever born. He can’t seem to get it through his thick, Fettes educated head that the majority of people can’t stand him and lots (self included), think he’s a war criminal who should have been tried at The Hague over the Iraq War.
So him wandering around the world pontificating on what we should be doing rather than languishing in some jail cell somewhere is distinctly off putting.
If Blair is in favour of something, the vast majority of the UK population will be against it out of simple cussedness that this useless twat won’t fuck off and die.
There’s just a slight chance that TB might be up to his neck in the Post Office Scandal. He personally made the decision to continue with the Horizon IT system, despite being told at the time there were problems with it. It would be highly amusing if he got dragged into that one and someone sued him for damages.
That would be like OJ getting off on the double murder and then subsequently jailed for stealing his own trophies back. 🙂
Can’t see it happening though. Whatever dirt Tony Bliar has on “the powers that be”, it’s been enough to keep him out of jail and earning mega millions since he quit No. 10.
Probably got the list of Epstein’s Lolita Express clients.
“rigourous” *and* “low-stakes”?
Girls behave in class and do so-so in exams, boys misbehave in class and do well in exams. Continuous assessment is just a racket to hold back boys. Because patriarchy.
“rigorous forms of continuous assessment”: no such thing exists. Old-fashioned exams and lots of them are the thing. And none of your namby-pamby Yankee multiple guess tests either. Keep continuous assessment only for things that it’s near impossible to assess any other way.
It helps if those setting and marking exams do it intelligently, but even without that they are a better bet than the Teacher’s Pet system.
‘ Instead of high-pressure GCSE exams…’
Because in the many jobs there are which requires an ability to make good and quick decisions under high pressure conditions, we would want people incapable of doing so filtered out by the exam process.
@ dearieme
+2
There are *some* teachers whom you can trust to mark “continuous assessment” honestly and accurately but they are in a minority. And that’s far from the worst problem with “continuous assessment” at a day school where parents (and, in some cases, private tutors) can help with the homework.
Given the difference in grades with exams reinstated vs teacher assessed grades during Covid it seems very clear most teachers aren’t very good at assessments or are unduly swayed by politics/parents/rewards systems etc.
Also as someone already stated this favours girls over boys which has been an ongoing trend in education that has pushed well past achieving equality.
The Blair Creature crawled out from the swamp and said Exams should be scrapped as ‘Exams are stressful’
Continuous assessment: intelligent have to waste time to comply and cheating rife
Blair Creature furthering Left woke culture. China, India, Russia laugh at us
@john77
Yes, “continuous assessment” can be a very effective way of testing the abilities of parents. TBF, many of them aren’t too bright.