Bright pupils failed by state system f lock to fee-paying schools
Headmaster says applications have almost doubled
BRIGHTER pupils are quitting the state system because ‘reforms’ mean the curriculum is not challenging enough, a private school head has warned.
Cameron Wyllie says Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) – which critics say has dumbed down secondary schooling – is forcing parents of cleverer pupils to send them private when they enter third year.
He said there had been a surge in the number of state school pupils applying to enter prestigious George Heriot’s in Edinburgh, where he has been headmaster since December 2014.
The CfE, introduced in 2010 for primary and secondary pupils, aims to create what the Scottish Government describes as ‘successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors’.
One of the ‘reforms’ brought in means that pupils now wait until the end of S3 before deciding which options to take, rather than the end of S2.
The move was designed to ease exam pressure on children, but many critics believe it simply holds back brighter pupils from forging on with their education.
It comes as state school teachers who are members of the two biggest unions are threatening to strike over their growing workload. The Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association and Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) say the introduction of the CfE and the changing exam system has led to increased working hours and frustration.
For the second year in a row fears have been expressed about the exams sat in schools, after the system changed from Standard Grade to National 4 and 5.
This year concerns were expressed over the quality of the National 5 computing paper which was described as a ‘dis- grace’. In 2015, the pass mark for the maths exam was lowered to 34 per cent after complaints that the paper was too difficult.
Mr Wyllie believes radical changes should now be made to allow brighter pupils to work towards a greater number of exams.
He said this was the reason behind the sharp increase in pupils going private.
At George Heriot’s, where the annual fees are £11,604, the number of S3 applicants has risen from 25 in 2015 to 45 in 2016. The school, which was established in 1628 as George Heriot’s Hospital, has 1,600 pupils.
Mr Wyllie said: ‘This, almost entirely, comes down to parental dissatisfaction with the broad general education now insisted upon in Scottish schools as part of the CfE package.
‘This policy that children should continue with a broad education into S3 rather than selecting seven or eight subjects to study for two years has always been deeply perplexing to me.
‘My first concrete suggestion would be that the policy of broad general education in S3 should be dropped.
‘I think this would be very attractive to informed parents and would improve standards in literacy and numeracy since pupils would spend more time on English and maths.’
However, an EIS spokesman said: ‘We would agree there is an absolute need for S3 to be a challenging year, but that does not necessarily equate to the pursuit of qualifications.
‘The issue of vocational pathways is rightly highlighted as it remains one of the undelivered aims of CfE.’
‘Policy is deeply perplexing’