MP blasts ‘blockbuster’ exams plan

Scrapping coursework and moving to “blockbuster” end-of-year exams will be damaging to poorer GCSE students, an MP has warned.

Graham Allen, Labour MP for Nottingham North said allowing teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds to complete their GCSEs in “bitesize” pieces, builds their confidence and encourages them to get good results.

He said he intends to discuss the issue, alongside six secondary school heads from his constituency, with the Department for Education next week.

Ministers have announced plans to scrap coursework assessments in most subjects, end re-sits, and return to exams at the end of the two-year course.

Mr Allen said: “To return to a one-off blockbuster exam may be great news for the prep school elite but would be a disaster for young people in my constituency and the rest of the brilliant progress they have been making in recent years.”