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The chaotic swing of the computer science pendulum...

Is the computer science revolution stalling? With concern over the qualifications landscape, GCSE uptake and teacher expertise, Dave Gibbs looks at how far we have come since 2012

Hang one pendulum from another and the resulting swing is chaotic. As computing and ICT swing back and forth, coupled to the to-and-fro of academic and technical qualifications, teachers are understandably feeling a little motion sick.

In the years up to 2012, ICT was booming. Huge numbers of students gained handfuls of GCSE-equivalent qualifications. ICT was a route for all students, including those struggling elsewhere, to find success. As the A grades came rolling in, however, there were portents.

The unravelling of ICT began in earnest when, in 2012, the then education secretary Michael Gove announced that the current curriculum could not prepare students to work at the very forefront of technological change.

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