Too many young people are being failed by an examination and qualifications system that is outdated and punitive. Our exam factory culture must end, says Dr Mary Bousted

Because the world is changing, it is time we thought about change in education too.

Nowhere is this needed more than in secondary education, where over the last 10 years governments have taken a qualifications system that was already out-of-date and made it more backward-looking still.

Learning and qualifications in vocational and academic pathways are kept separate. Progress 8 and the EBacc have narrowed the range of qualifications at 16.

In GCSEs and A levels there is a very heavy reliance on end-of-course examinations; skills of knowledge-retention are prioritised, others left undeveloped.

Perhaps above all, for the forgotten third of students, those it deems unsuccessful, it is a disqualification system that makes it difficult to qualify for the next stage of life and work.

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