Re: UK-Pupils-Learn-Less-German-in-School
Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2020 3:48 pm
Another issue we have in Scotland now is that a recent change to the education system saw the number of exams kids take drop.
When I was at high school, you sat exams (N5) in 8 subjects at age 16 -- most schools now have kids sit exams in 6. This forces kids to narrow down early and choose subjects that will get them closer to their career goals. Maths and English are requirements for university study, and so are compulsory in most schools, leaving kids with only 4 slots to choose from. If you want to be a doctor, you're going to have to take 3 sciences, leaving only 1 free choice.
At the over-16 exams, Higher and Advanced Higher (Higher is slightly below English A-level, Advanced Higher is above it), you get 5 choices (that hasn't changed).
That means you have one subject you can drop between N5 and Higher, so there's very little leeway for working on outside interests -- if you still have any doubt about what you want to study at university by the time you're choosing your N5s, you have to use that 1 slot to keep your options open.
As you might imagine, the language departments were the biggest victims of this change.
When I was at high school, you sat exams (N5) in 8 subjects at age 16 -- most schools now have kids sit exams in 6. This forces kids to narrow down early and choose subjects that will get them closer to their career goals. Maths and English are requirements for university study, and so are compulsory in most schools, leaving kids with only 4 slots to choose from. If you want to be a doctor, you're going to have to take 3 sciences, leaving only 1 free choice.
At the over-16 exams, Higher and Advanced Higher (Higher is slightly below English A-level, Advanced Higher is above it), you get 5 choices (that hasn't changed).
That means you have one subject you can drop between N5 and Higher, so there's very little leeway for working on outside interests -- if you still have any doubt about what you want to study at university by the time you're choosing your N5s, you have to use that 1 slot to keep your options open.
As you might imagine, the language departments were the biggest victims of this change.