Jonathan Simons:
GCSE results underline the need for rigorous teaching, equal funding and freedom for heads
This year’s GCSE results were particularly significant for a small number of schools – the earliest free schools, which opened their doors in 2011 and received their first results yesterday. Some are superb. The West London Free School – set up by the journalist Toby Young – achieved pass rates of 76 per cent A*-C including English and maths. Even more impressive, 97 per cent of pupils at Tauheedul Boys School in Blackburn achieved the same benchmark.
These results come at an important time for education reform in England. Following the frenetic activity of the Gove years, and the half-abandoned push to turn all schools into academies under Nicky Morgan, what will Justine Greening, the new Education Secretary wish to see?
First, it is vital not to lose the momentum on free schools. They embody the sort of education system we want – built from the ground up, often set up by parents or teachers, and with brilliant heads given the freedom to deliver excellence within the state system.
In many ways, their grudging acceptance into the mainstream is their greatest success. Wind the clock back five years to when these pioneers were starting, and the air was thick with blood-curdling predictions that their mere existence would act as a virus, infecting and destroying schools around them. The debate now is whether they make a positive impact, or no difference.
Reformers should not simply bank this victory, however significant it is. There is a government commitment for 500 more free schools over this Parliament. They need the support to set up wherever parents and communities want them – not just in areas where school places are required, but where existing provision has failed too many children for too long. Alongside that, Greening should continue to allow schools to become academies when they wish to, and maintain the requirement that schools must “academise” under the wing of an effective sponsor if they are not delivering.
But school reform is about more than just structures. The challenge now is to spread effective classroom performance more widely.
The A*-C GCSE pass rate for girls today is almost 9 percentage points higher than for boys – and out of all subjects, boys did better only in maths. Later results are likely to show that poorer children have continued to struggle (though there are some outstanding schools, notably in London, which are reducing or eliminating that gap).
Some parts of the country, particularly on the coast and those with large white working-class communities, will record low results. Attainment is not spread evenly – there are educational “cold spots” across the country.
What do such places need? It goes wider than education. They need good jobs, supported by a new industrial strategy. They need houses working families can afford. They need strong communities underpinned by effective public services.
Within schools, the answer is simple to say, though not simple to do. They need sufficient funding, and they need good teachers and leaders. But we know that all too often they draw the short straw for both. The Government must not falter on its commitment to equalise funding levels for schools. It is simply unjust that Medway receives £650 less per pupil than Liverpool, despite having lower performance at primary level
And the Government must do more to work with schools and local authorities to make them attractive for teachers and their families to move to. As well as action on salaries, they could think creatively about relocation packages.
But above all, what pupils need is a rigorous and knowledge-rich curriculum, which allows them to access the best of all that has been thought and said. The English Baccalaureate requires all pupils to study English, maths, a language, a science, and either history or geography – and schools are held accountable for this. Some protest that this is elitist or narrow. But knowledge is powerful. It is the key to unlocking every child’s future.