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Northern Ireland considers end to high-stakes exams at 16

Examinations & Qualifications
A major review of GCSEs in Northern Ireland is proposing an end to high-stakes exams at 16. Rather than sit a string of GCSEs, pupils would instead be assessed externally in a small number of “core” subjects.

The North’s education minister John O’Dowd commissioned the review to consider whether both GCSEs and A levels remain the best exams.

The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) is carrying out the review, described as one of most important pieces of work undertaken in the past quarter century.

CCEA has now published an online options survey, detailing a shortlist of alternatives, one of which is the proposed end of exams at age 16. The council says GCSEs were originally introduced “to facilitate learners of all ability” and to be a “passport to employment”. However, most pupils now progress to further study at post-16.

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