Latymer Upper overhaul GCSEs

A whole school curriculum reform

A leading independent day school in London will remove GCSEs from the curriculum and replace them with their own assessed courses.

What changes are being made?

At Latymer Upper School, we have decided that students from 2027 (the new Year 7 students joining us in 2024) will no longer take GCSE exams, apart from the legally required Maths and English Language. We believe the exams no longer meet the needs of our students. In a school where our students are staying through to eighteen (we have no intention to alter the A Levels process), we no longer see them as desirable and we know we can do so much better.

Why was this decision made?

At the time when young people are undergoing serious neurological development, we are slowing down their learning and pushing them through an exam system which does not take into account teens at different stages of development. We also lose a vast amount of teaching time with examinations, study leave, exam preparation and technique when we could be preparing them better for A Level study. We want our young people to be independent and original thinkers and we don’t think traditional (written) exams are proof of what they know. We also want to be able to stretch the most able - those who end up with all grade 8s and 9s, but who more or less got those grades months before in their mocks. What real learning have they done in those subsequent months?

Our proposals are based on years of conversations, research and development of ideas. We have held workshops and focus groups with employers, universities in the UK and internationally, parents, other schools, students, alumni and recruitment consultants. We have based much on what everyone has told us directly. We have utilised other research, not least the HMC report, ‘The State of Education - Time to Talk’, the Future of Jobs Report from the WEF, the CBI’s ‘Getting Young People Work Ready’, the Times Education Commission’s excellent report, as well as our work as part of Rethinking Assessment and the School Directed Courses Consortium. All of our findings echo what others are hearing.

What will the Latymer curriculum look like in practice?

We will follow traditional subjects with our own school-designed long courses. Our mission is to encourage deep and scholarly learning which challenges and develops able learners. Students will be required to take at least two sciences, a MFL and a humanities subject, on top of English and Maths. In addition, our tenweek long short courses - which are similar to our Sixth Form electives - will focus on exposure to new aspects of learning; some examples are AI, coding, climate change, indigenous cultures or literature in translation. Subjects currently only taught at A Level (Economics, Politics, Art History, Photography) will also be brought into the middle school curriculum. Thirdly, we will offer a variety of assessment methods to the students, depending on the subject and how the department wishes to assess. There will still be traditional written assessments, plus collaborative group work assessments, vivas, presentations, open-book assessments and online tests, to name but a few. We also want to incorporate the fusion skills employers tell us they want to see developed in young people today into their learningcollaboration, creativity, communication and critical thinking. Finally, we are proposing to offer collapsed weeks in the timetable to allow time for projects, for example with authentic external audiences.

How will changes be implemented?

We are managing the change carefully. Information and keeping everyone informed is key. We have been able to work through concerns, anxieties or questions with our Prep parents, whose children will be coming through to the Upper School. They have helped us refine and develop our thinking and I would say that our final proposals owe a lot to their great input. We are also very transparent with our prospective joiners and parents, making sure that they are clear on our plans and assuring them that our proposals are solid and evidence-based.

What has been the reaction to curriculum reform?

It has been overwhelmingly positive. Our proposals are backed by many employers who say that they do not look at GCSE grades when they employ young people. Parents are also keen on our thinking: some are excited by the innovation we are showing, others are happy we are providing a superior alternative to high-stakes exams at sixteen. Most tell us that they trust us and know their children will be at the forefront of something new and exciting.

Will other schools be following this decision?

We know from our work with colleagues in the maintained sector that they would like to see reform and to be free from the constraints of the current exam and exam technique roundabout. We would all like to inspire and excite our young people with learning that prepares them for the future. Latymer Upper and Prep School is privileged to be able to innovate and lead, and to not simply follow what has come before.

latymer-upper.org