Pupils are ‘failed’ by cut in subject choice

Education expert attacks ‘postcode lottery’

THE SNP’S flagship education policy is ‘limiting the prospects’ of children, according to one of its architects.

Keir Bloomer, who helped write the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), is now a chief critic of how it has been implemented.

In a new report, he says a ‘postcode lottery’ has left some pupils sitting fewer qualifications, depending on where they live.

Mr Bloomer, chairman of the Commission on School Reform, warns that there is a ‘grave danger’ that their prospects will be harmed if changes are not made.

In his report, A Test of Fairness, he calls for all pupils to be allowed to study eight subjects in S4, as was done under the previous exam system.

Many schools have slashed subject choice to six since the curriculum was officially implemented in August 2010, with the first S4 exams sat in 2014.

Mr Bloomer said yesterday: ‘Curriculum for Excellence was supposed to broaden education and opportunity, but it is becoming increasingly clear that its implementation is narrowing it.

‘We are seeing a postcode lottery where pupils who are capable of successfully sitting eight exams are being prevented from doing so.’

Mr Bloomer added: ‘This is narrowing their education and limiting their prospects as they move towards sitting Highers and then to college or university.’

Under CfE changes, pupils only study for National 4 and National 5 qualifications in S4, whereas Standard Grades involved two years of learning from S3.

A Reform Scotland study indicates that some schools have continued to allow children to study over two years, which means they can study up to eight subjects.

Mr Bloomer’s words come amid concern over Scotland’s education system, which has plunged down international rankings, with performance in maths and science hitting a record low. There is also a recruitment crisis, with 2,835 fewer teachers than when the SNP came to power in 2007.

Scottish Conservative education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘We have already seen several experts stating that the Curriculum for Excellence has created a narrowing of education for young people in Scotland’s schools.

‘Worse still, there are significant differences in the number of core subject choice options available across different schools, with the greatest narrowing of core subjects in many schools in the more deprived communities.’

MSPs have heard from experts, teachers, parents and children who fear that subject choice has been squeezed, raising fears about access to university courses or work.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘This analysis takes no account of differences before and after the introduction of Curriculum for Excellence, which helps equip pupils with the knowledge, skills and attributes needed for life in the 21st century.

‘It means pupils learn a wide range of subjects up to S3. Schools then have the freedom to design a set of courses, qualifications and awards between S4 and S6, tailored to meet young people’s needs.

‘What matters is the qualifications that pupils leave school with, and last year a record proportion went on to positive destinations including work, training or further study.’

‘More deprived communities’

NIcOLA Sturgeon frequently insists that she should to be judged on her government’s stewardship of Scotland’s education system.

Miss Sturgeon should, we’re bound to say, be careful what she wishes for. There is a danger that voters will do as she asks.

The bleak reality is that countless children are being failed by Scotland’s schools. Standards in literacy and numeracy remain troublingly low, while shortages in specialist staff mean some subjects are not available to all pupils.

Now a leading academic has stepped into the debate on Scotland’s education system, criticising the fact that the controversial curriculum for Excellence (cfE) programme has been implemented in such a way that it is limiting choice for some pupils.

Keir Bloomer – a member of the review group which drew up the programme – says that while cfE was supposed to broaden education and opportunity, in practice it is narrowing it. Since cfE was implemented nine years ago, fourth-year pupils in some parts of Scotland have been limited to studying only six subjects where previously they would have taken on eight.

Prompt action is now needed to ensure cfE doesn’t continue to act as a barrier on young people’s ambitions.