“More rigorous exams that more people pass”

Graham Stuart, Conservative MP and chairman of the Education select committee, intervened in Michael Gove’s speech yesterday to say:

The Secretary of State wants more rigorous exams that more people pass. That is an aspiration that we would all share, but it is not immediately obvious how it is to be brought about. Today, 42% of children do not get five good GCSEs including English and maths. If we make the tests more difficult, it is not immediately obvious how more people will pass them. I welcome that he is aiming higher and that we will have more rigour, but we need more detail. He is very good at explaining what is wrong with what Labour did, and I agree with every word, but he is not so good at giving us the detail of precisely what this Government plan to do.

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• Midwinter1947

  The whole purpose of examinations is to apply a sequence of grades to candidates in order to differentiate between those who are able to achieve a high grade (ie in crude terms – pass) and those who cannot (ie fail). Gove is mind-bogglingly stupid if he thinks that it is possible to have everyone achieve high marks.

  So, being generous, I can only conclude that he has some other purpose hidden behind these incessant attacks. Could it be that he just needs something he can use to launch another diversionary attack on teachers, schools, educational theory, children, parents, cultural attitudes, past governments, pop music, social workers, computer games, X-Factor, the state of English football, the Moon…?

• No_Key

  If it’s more rigorous than less people will pass.
  Because the exam is more exacting, more people will fail to meet the passing grade.
  Logic.
  The Politicians bane.

• Whyshouldihavetoregister

  I really don’t think you have any business commenting on education, given your command of spelling, punctuation and meaning (‘fewer people,’ not ‘less people.’)

• No_Key

  I really don’t think you have any business commenting on education, given THAT your command of spelling, punctuation and meaning (TO WIT: ‘fewer people,’ not ‘less people.’) IS OPEN TO ATTACK FROM SPELLING AND GRAMMAR NAZIS.
  tsk tsk