Patterns of Subject Uptake and Examination Entry 1984-1997

Patterns of subject uptake and examination entry 1984-1997

Patterns of subject uptake and examination entry 1984-1997

Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference at The Queen’s University, 27-30 August 1998

John F Bell

University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate

1 Hills Road

Cambridge

CB1 2EU

22 September, 1998

1

Patterns of subject uptake and examination entry 1984-1997

Abstract

In 1984, the APU science survey collected information on the courses followed by year 11 pupils (Bell, 1990). In this paper, the APU survey will be compared with recent GCSE examination level data and will describe the impact of the National Curriculum on the sexes and on pupils of differing ability. In 1984 there were considerable differences in uptake by the sexes and by ability.

In 1997 pupils were taking more examinations than were pupils in 1984. Also, in 1997 girls were taking more GCSEs than boys. This could be the result of changes in the provision of subjects. The subjects favoured by males such as science and technology tend to have been merged with other subjects. The amount of physics studied by boys has decreased with the introduction of the GCSE (from a whole subject to half a subject). Subjects stereotypically preferred by girls such as modern languages, drama and English Literature have increased. In this sense, it could be said that there has been a feminisation of the curriculum but these changes would only account for some of the differential performance between the sexes.

Keywords: Curriculum, subject uptake, sex

Introduction

In his book describing his time as Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Curriculum Council (Graham, 1993) included a chapter titled The nightmare of key stage 4. This was because it was logistically impossible to provide a curriculum which would satisfy the original requirement of ten foundation subjects (English, mathematics, science, a modern foreign language, history, geography, technology, art and design, music, and physical education).

Bell (1990) used Assessment of Performance Unit survey data to investigate the curriculum followed by year 11 candidates in 1984. It was found no pupil satisfied the proposed National Curriculum and that the most common combination of subjects - English, mathematics, French, geography, history, biology, chemistry and physics- was studied by just 46 pupils out of a sample of 7415 pupils. In other words, there was a great deal of curricular diversity. In this paper, a comparison of the choices made in 1984 (Bell, 1990) will be compared with examination entries in 1997. The 1997 data come from the 1997 16+ database of GCSE results. This database includes the GCSE results for 16-year-old pupils except those in special schools and is used to compile the performance tables. By comparing these two sources of data it is possible to investigate the changes in the curriculum for pupils at the end of key stage 4.

The two sets of data have been collected differently. The APU data is a survey sample of the 1984 cohort and the target population included all pupils in schools (except for special schools and units designated as 'special' in mainstream schools), and a very small proportion of pupils withdrawn by their teachers because the assessments would cause undue distress. The APU data set has a number of shortcomings. The information was derived from a questionnaire designed to investigate pupils' subject interests, job aspirations and preferred leisure activities (Johnson and Bell, 1987, Archenhold et al., 1988). The pupils were presented with a list of 21 subjects divided into three groups: 'sciences', 'languages' and 'other' subjects. Additional subjects were written on the questionnaires by the pupils. It was designed and reviewed by science specialists who were not experts in the whole curriculum. This meant that the list of subjects was not necessarily the most appropriate (for example, it is not possible to identify English Literature as a separate subject). The second problem was that the questionnaire was completed by pupils who may not have identified subjects correctly (e.g., there was confusion between economics and home economics and pupils stated they were taking human biology when it was not a separate subject but part of a biology course).

The 16+ database includes all pupils in year 11 in 1997 and includes all examinations taken by the pupils up to that point. There is a small proportion of pupils who take GCSE examinations early, either in one or two subjects, or because they have been accelerated by one year. It is important to recognise that this database differs from the inter-group statistics which are the other major source of examination data because the latter include all candidates who sit GCSE examinations in a year and this includes mature candidates. The inter-group statistics were used by Arnot et al. (1996) who were forced to use an approximation to overcome the problem. The problem with the 16+ database is that it just contains details of the examinations taken and has no data on any course which the pupils may have taken but which did not culminate in a public examination. This is obviously a greater problem at the lower end of the attainment range. It is possible for there to have been no change in provision when the percentage taking a subject in 1984 is compared with the percentage taking an examination 1997. It is less likely the reverse is true. Except for multi-lingual pupils and modern languages, it would be unlikely for pupil to take an examination without attending a course.

This paper is structured as follows. Firstly, the number of examinations taken will be considered. The original National Curriculum consisted of three core subjects (English, mathematics, science) and seven foundation subjects (history, geography, technology, art, music, PE, and a modern foreign language). This report is structured so that the three core subjects are considered together. This is then followed by a section on modern foreign languages, which is followed by a section devoted to technology and a section on the remaining five foundation subjects. This structure has been adopted to break up large tables into manageable sections for discussion and description. In the next section some combinations of common subjects are investigated. Finally, this paper concludes with a discussion of the findings.

Number of examinations taken

The number of GCSE examinations sat by candidates in 1997 is given in Table 1. 89% of year 11 boys and 92% of year 11 girls took at least 5 GCSEs. It should be noted that the number includes candidates who sat the same subject in both the winter and summer examination sessions. The average number of GCSEs taken by boys was 8.25 and by girls was 8.66. In 1979, the HMI (1979) found that the average number of examinations entered was 8.0 for grammar schools and 6.4 for full range comprehensive schools (and this would be inflated by dual entries at CSE and O-level in the same subject for some individuals). They concluded that ‘...the practice in some schools of allowing 9, 10 or 11 subjects to be taken created an unnecessarily heavy examination load, especially on those below the top level of ability’. In 1997, this ‘unnecessary load’ was expected of 64% of boys and 73% of girls. It should be recognised that the introduction of coursework may have spread some of the examination load through the year.

Table 1: Number of GCSE examination sat by candidates in the 1997 cohort

In the 1984 APU science surveys, the survey schools were asked to indicate both the number and level of external examinations for which each sample was likely to be entered the following year, i.e. towards the end of the fifth year. This information has always served as a useful indicator of the pupils’ general level of academic ability. The distributions of the examination entry plans for the 1984 sample are presented in Table 2. There is a problem with category 8+ Olevels because, in some schools, there was a policy not to allow candidates to sit that number of examinations. This information was used to investigate the ability related differences in subject take-up rates.

Table 2: Pupil sample composition in 1984 in terms of examination entry plans

(Percentage of pupils in each 'examination entry' group)

*Those pupils in the first four groups might also be taking CSEs; those pupils in the two 'CSE' groups would not betaking O-levels.

In the 16+ database, there are the GCSE examination results for candidates. By assigning marks to the GCSE scores (U=0, G=1, etc.) and taking the mean scores, it is possible to arrive at an achievement distribution. By taking the GCSE mean scores at the percentiles given in Table 2, it is possible to arrive at broadly similar categories for the purposes of comparison. For the purposes of subsequent analyses, three categories of examination intentions will be considered:

High attainersSix or more O-levels32% of candidates5.20<mean GCSE,

Medium attainers One to five O-levels30% of candidates,3.70<mean GCSE5.20

Low attainersCSEs only38% of candidates.mean GCSE3.70

It should be recognised that these categories are not completely comparable. Although 32% of pupils in 1984 were entered for 6 or more O-levels this does not mean that all the pupils attained better results than those in lower categories because it is derived from examination intentions. This is determined by school policies. Independent and grammar schools tended not to enter candidates for CSE examinations.

These categories are used in this paper to investigate subject uptake by attainment. It is recognised that pupils of differing attainment might be following courses of the same name but the educational experience will differ. For example, Keddie (1971) observed the introduction of a new humanities course designed for all ability levels. Despite the fact that all streams were supposed to be taught the same material in the same way, Keddie found that teachers modified their methods and the information they transmitted depending on which stream they were teaching.

The Core subjects: English, mathematics and science

In this section, the uptake of the core subjects, English, mathematics and science, will be considered. In Table 3 the uptake of these subjects by sex is given. In 1984 and 1997 the uptake of English was very high. The slight apparent decline between 1984 and 1997 is almost certainly an artefact of the data resulting from the fact that the 1997 figure is based on GCSE examination entry. Although no figures are available for English Literature in 1984, Bloomfield et al. (1979) estimated that in 1974 (which was the first year after the raising of the school leaving age to 16 for all pupils) 41.5% of the age group were entered for English Literature. In 1997 82% of pupils were studying this subject. In the sixties, it was questioned whether English Literature was a suitable subject for O-level, e.g.

Another controversial question is whether literary appreciation exercises are desirable at Ordinary Level. Few candidates have the ability to appreciate the literary quality of prose works and even fewer can show a true appreciation of poetry. Such exercises lead to the wholesale regurgitation of other peoples' views. (Bruce, 1969).

In addition to English, drama has been included in the table. In 1984 this subject existed but only small numbers were studying it. In 1997 the subject was studied by just over one tenth of the boys and approaching one fifth of the girls.

The uptake of mathematics was very high in both 1984 and 1997. There has, however, been a major change in the uptake of science subjects. Before the introduction of the National Curriculum, a major concern was the biology/physics polarisation in the option choices of boys and girls and the resulting limitation of later career opportunities (Johnson and Murphy, 1986). In 1984, only 5 % of pupils were not studying any science at all (four-fifths of the sample schools required that their pupils studied at least one science subject in years Y10 and Y11). A complete description of science uptake and provision in Y10 and Y11 can be found in the five age 15 survey reports (Driver et al., 1982; Driver et al., 1984; Gott et al., 1985; Welford et al., 1986; Archenhold et al., 1988). The proportions of pupils not taking any science had been declining from 13% in 1975 (Archenhold et al., 1988). In a sample of 100 schools collected in 1988, Daniels and Bell (1989) found that just 1.5% of the 15,000 pupils were not studying science and more than half of these came from just three schools.

In 1984, most pupils studied a combination of one, two, or three of the traditional sciences of biology, physics and chemistry. By 1997, double award GCSE science had become dominant and the percentages studying the traditional sciences as separate subjects had declined substantially.

Table 3: Uptake of core subjects by sex

(percentages of pupils)

+ English Literature was not identified as a separate subject in 1984

* the entry for drama was very small in 1984

- subject non existent at the time

In Table 4, the uptake of core subjects by attainment group is presented. The lower percentages for low attaining pupils in mathematics and English illustrates the difference between courses followed and examinations entered mentioned above. It also shows that the majority of medium and high attainment pupils studied in English Literature in 1997. The uptake of biology, physics and chemistry courses has always been higher for the higher attaining pupils. By 1997 these subjects were dominated by such pupils. This is the reason for the fact that percentage of pupils entered for double award science GCSE is lower for the high attaining group compared with the medium attaining group. A fuller account of science uptake can be found in Bell (1998).

Table 4: Uptake of core subjects by attainment type

(percentages of pupils)

+ English Literature was not identified as a separate subject in 1984

* the entry for drama was very small in 1984

- subject non existent at the time

The number of science subjects studied for 1975-84 and the number of examinations sat for 1997 are given in Table 5. Between 1984 and 1997 there has been a move away from taking three sciences to taking just two. There has also been a move away from taking a single subject science to taking the equivalent of two sciences. In the 1975/8 HMI (1979) survey 41% of boys were taking two or more science subjects and, in the 1997 data, 86% of boys sat two or more examinations in science. For girls, the increase has been much greater, from 22% in 1975 to 86% in 1992. This alone should mean that sex differences in performance in science should have narrowed. In addition, the percentages of pupils taking three or more sciences have approximately halved since 1980.

Table 5: Number of science subjects studied 1975-84 and number of GCSE examinations taken in 1997

(percentages of pupils)

* many of these candidates may have been taking science but not entered for examinations.

The introduction of the National Curriculum meant that in 1992 only certain combinations of subjects were allowable in maintained schools. These restrictions did not apply for independent schools. For most candidates this meant following one of three options: Single Award Science, Double Award Science, or all three traditional sciences: biology, chemistry and physics. Separate GCSE courses can account for up to 30% of curriculum time which even the Royal Society (undated) considers too much.

Modern Foreign Languages

Modern languages form a subject area for which the National Curriculum has had a major impact. In Table 6, the uptake of combinations of modern languages by sex is presented. In 1984 39% of girls and 57% boys were studying a modern foreign language in year 11. The original intention of the National Curriculum was that modern foreign languages should be compulsory and the latest National Curriculum arrangements make a short course compulsory. However, in 1997 18% of girls and 27% of boys were not entered for a modern foreign language examination. In 1984 34% of pupils were studying French only. This had increased to 45% in 1997.

Table 6: Uptake of Combinations of modern languages (pupils taking each combination, %)

(percentages of pupils)

In 1984, 94% of pupils in the highest achievement groups studied at least one foreign language, compared with 51% of the pupils in the medium achievement group, and 25% in the lowest achievement group. By 1997, there had been large changes for medium and low achievement groups. The percentages were 94%, 82% and 56% respectively.

The total uptakes of the commonest foreign languages by sex and by attainment are given in Tables 8 and 9. French was still the commonest modern foreign language studied at this age. For the European languages more girls than boys were studying them. However, the gender gap in uptake has closed considerably.

Table 7: Uptake of modern foreign languages by sex

(percentage of pupils)

For both years, there is a clear trend of increasing subject uptake or examination entry with increasing attainment.