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New government plans for GCSEs are to be released today, prompting warnings that "quality" textbooks could lag behind the changes unless the government leaves enough time for publishers to develop new textbooks. The BBC has reported this morning that the new-look GCSEs exams would be graded from one to eight instead of A* to G.
From 2015, the exams will move from coursework and continuous assessment to exams at the end of two years and pupils will face more demanding content, with English pupils likely to have to read a 19th-Century novel and a whole Shakespeare play. Exams are likely to be based on a essay structure and the pass mark for the exams is likely to be pushed higher.
The detail has not yet been released, but education minister Elizabeth Truss said: "We are taking steps with the existing exams to make them as good as possible. But we do need to start competing against those top performing countries in the world because for too long we've pretended that students results are getting better when all that's been happening is the exams have been getting easier and it's been a race to the bottom between the exam boards and we need to stop that happening now."
Publishers are still waiting on the department of education to publish full programmes of study with assessments for the new GCSEs and A-levels, before they can set about working on materials for the courses. Publishers are also being held back by a delay in the publication of a report by Ofqual into the distinction between exams and exam textbooks. The investigative body originally said it would release its report into the firewalls at publisher Pearson between publishing and assessment in February, but it has now revised that until the end of August, as revealed by The Bookseller last week.
Lis Tribe, managing director at Hodder Education, said: "The government is still aiming for the specifications to be ready a year ahead of teaching, so 2014 to be taught in 2015, but the nature of the changes are quite significant. There has been quite an emphasis on textbooks - how they can support the curriculum - and quality. Quality takes time. When we have significant changes to the curriculum and the focus is on improving standards, textbooks and educational digital products have an important part to play on that, so as time goes on, it makes life difficult."
She added that Ofqual's delay was further adding to the time pressure on publishers. "You need to know if your textbooks are going to be endorsed (by an exam board)- it affects the decisions publishers make. Everything is being delayed and it does impact on publishers."
Graham Taylor, academic publishing consultant for The Long Game, said the changes cited this morning seem to be "harking back to the old-format O-levels." He said: "It is retrograde thinking. Michael Gove seems to hold consultations, look like he's listening to what people are saying, but then go ahead with what he always thought in the first place. What seems certain now is that schools and teachers are going to be teaching the new national curriculum and coming to terms with the specifications for the new GCSEs and A-levels all in one go. It all seems quite hazardous for both publishers and schools to me."