David Nuttall
Main Page: David Nuttall (Conservative - Bury North)Department Debates - View all David Nuttall's debates with the Department for Education
(12 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Michael Gove
Yes, I would be happy to share with the hon. Lady the work that has been done by the university of Durham, the Royal Society of Chemistry, Ofqual, Ofsted and King’s College London, all of which have pointed out the way in which the current model of GCSE examination needs to change. I would also be happy to share with her best practice in every successful education jurisdiction, which stresses a broad curriculum of the kind that the English baccalaureate aspires to provide.
Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement. Does my right hon. Friend agree that, to reassure everyone of the rigour of the new exam, no pupil should be regarded as having passed it unless they achieve a mark of at least 50%?
Michael Gove
I take my hon. Friend’s point. When I was re-reading Mike Tomlinson’s report into what went wrong with A-levels under the last Labour Government, I noted that he made the point that it is very difficult for the public to understand how exam boards convert raw marks into particular scores and then particular grades. It is an opaque process that impedes understanding. I think that my hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis) made the point that greater granular detail about attainment can help us all understand how marks are awarded. The simplicity that my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Nuttall) wants is not always available to us, but we should aspire to it.