Academics are to study whether teaching GCSEs over three years is “more effective” than teaching them over two.

It is part of a programme of work being undertaken by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to provide more evidence about the impact of the decisions schools make.

With the high-stakes accountability regime and introduction of the English Baccalaureate, a number of schools have moved to a three-year key stage 3 in recent years.

Some use this approach to have more time to cover GCSE content; others spend two years teaching GCSE content and a third year on revision and exam preparation. However, the concern is that this approach narrows the curriculum too early.

The issue is topical because of the new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (EIF), which has shifted the focus of inspection onto the school curriculum.

The EIF wants to see a “broad and balanced” curriculum and is critical of schools that narrow their curriculum and teach to the test.

While Ofsted has stated that it has no preference about the length of key stages 3 and 4, the EIF makes clear it will be an area of focus: “If a school has shortened key stage 3, inspectors will look to see that the school has made provision to ensure that pupils still have the opportunity to study a broad range of subjects, commensurate with the national curriculum, in years 7 to 9.”

Furthermore, inspections outcomes so far under the EIF are showing a bias towards a two-year key stage 4.

Of 169 Section 5 inspections, 142 have involved schools with an identifiable key stage 3 and 4 split. Of these, 69 had a three-year key stage 4 and 73 had a two-year key stage 4.

Of the 69, only 24 per cent were rating good or outstanding – with 59 per cent being rated requires improvement. For the 73 schools, 56 per cent were considered good or outstanding and 37 per cent requires improvement (Mansfield & Clark, 2020).

The EEF research project is to be carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and “aims to understand what impact the decisions schools make about how to organise GCSE have on grades, as well the breadth of curriculum offered by schools”.

Every eligible secondary school in England will be invited to take part in a survey to find out how they organise their key stage 4 curriculum.

Schools are also being invited to participate more fully in the project. Further details are online (see below) and the deadline for expressions of interest is March 4.

Professor Becky Francis, CEO of the EEF, said: “Sometimes the findings of education research can seem quite distant from the day-to-day concerns of life in schools. School leaders and teachers make hundreds of decisions every year, all of which have an impact on their pupils, and it’s important that these studies focus on practical issues for schools – how best to deliver the curriculum in the senior years of schooling. The results will offer useful insights to help schools improve outcomes and better meet the needs of all pupils.”

Simon Rutt, head of statistics at NFER and project director of the length of KS4 project, added: “The length of key stage 4 in secondary schools is a topical issue in education at the moment – however there is limited evidence about the relative impact on pupil attainment at the end of this period.”