Secondary Education (GCSEs)

Guy Opperman Excerpts

Tuesday 26th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Twigg]

I will write to the hon. Gentleman with the results. I took O-level English. I think I got an A in literature and a B in language. When I was doing O-levels I had no way of testing the skills that the CBI tells us matter—no course work, no speaking and listening component; rather the questions often required fairly basic skills, such as summary and reading comprehension. That is one reason why I say that speaking skills should be a priority for all our state schools, as they are in so many of our primary schools. The Education Secretary observed recently that it was “morally indefensible” that some professions are dominated by pupils from private schools. I simply cannot see how bringing back CSEs will address that indefensible position. It will make it even worse.

[Guy Opperman (Hexham) (Con)]

The hon. Gentleman described how he now accepts that there was grade inflation. When did that road to Damascus discovery take place? Was it in 1997 when he was first elected, 2005, 2010 or 2012?

[Stephen Twigg]

Anyone listening to this debate is probably not very interested in the progress of my thinking on these matters. They are probably slightly more interested in the opportunity for Members on both sides of the House to hold the Secretary of State to account, which is the purpose of today’s debate. However, I repeat that I do acknowledge that there is an issue of grade inflation. In an interview in January 2012, the Secretary of State said:

“It is important to recognise that it is not just grade inflation that is responsible for improvements in our schools. I do believe that our schools have got better, incrementally in some case, quickly in others, over the course of the last 15 years.”

So in fact we can reach a consensus on this. There has been grade inflation, but there was also significant improvement in our schools during the last 15 years, for 13 of which, as I recall, the Labour party was in government.

--- Later in debate ---

[Guy Opperman (Hexham) (Con)]

This has been a confectionary debate featuring a number of individual sweets, not least the polo mint that constitutes the motion. I have studied it in great detail and found nothing that takes forward this country’s education debate. In the words of one coalition colleague, it is an “opportunistic wheeze.” Having studied the motion and found nothing of substance, we should then go back to the words of the hon. Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan), who so enlightened the House when he outlined the Opposition’s education policy last Thursday:

“We on the Opposition side of the House believe in a modern education system that promotes high standards, rigorous exams”.—[Official Report, 21 June 2012; Vol. 546, c. 1026.]

He had earlier sought an apology, but of course thus far we have had no apology for his claim that three in 10 pupils equalled 60% of them. When one studies the specific proposals he put forward last Thursday, one has to ask oneself, “Is this not lighter than air?” It is the Aero policy we are now studying—

[Kevin Brennan]

This is the humbug speech.

[Guy Opperman]

No. I can assure hon. Members that it is the hon. Gentleman’s proposals that are lighter than air; I have studied them and found that there is not much in them.

We then move on to the Celebrations moment. While I was in hospital last year, when something took place that was of good order I would be provided with a large box of Celebrations. There was such a time earlier today: the shadow Secretary of State, like St Paul on the road to Damascus, stood forth and admitted for the first time that there had been grade inflation under Labour. However, despite repeated questioning by me and others, he refused to state when he first discovered this grade inflation. Was it 1997, 2005, 2010, 2012, or was it yesterday? He failed to divulge when that magical event took place. That is a crucial point, because the discovery of grade inflation is utterly important to an assessment of how this policy is going forward.

Despite throwing money at the problem, the previous Government did not see the results. As other Members have outlined, maths, literacy and science all declined, whatever type of test was taken. Academies do work, and I applaud the expansion of that programme. Let us take as an exemplar the words of Andrew Adonis, the former Schools Minister, who said there should be “strong independent governance” that was “free of local authority red tape”, with exemplary leadership and “brilliant teachers” who were specially chosen. That is the way forward.

In Northumberland, part of which I represent, schools saw little of the financial benefit that the previous Government bestowed on individual local authorities. The situation has changed, I am pleased to say, with the rebuild announcement for Prudhoe community high school, and I look forward to welcoming the Secretary of State when he visits Northumberland shortly. I will also be showing him the amazing Queen Elizabeth high school in Hexham, another school that was denied any sort of funding or rebuild under the previous Government.

However, I have two reservations that I want to raise with the Minister. First, we should be wary of change for change’s sake. Every teacher in Northumberland I spoke with before the last election explained with growing depression how every year there was a different syllabus, a different amendment or a different set of textbooks, all costing huge amounts of money, in circumstances in which some consistency was clearly needed so that they could get on with what they wanted to do, which was to teach.

Secondly, I wish to echo some of the comments that have been made on vocational education. I am not a fan of nail technology being a GCSE. However, I represent a constituency in rural Northumberland where we value vocational education very highly. I suggest that the lesson the Minister should take forward is not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. It is absolutely vital that we hang on to the engineering and alternative qualifications. I totally understand and applaud the desire to reduce the number of vocational qualifications, but there is a danger of being excessive in that policy, and in rural areas in particular that will affect the quality of education provided.

Given the time limit and the number of Members who wish to speak, I will bring my remarks to a close. I suggest that in these circumstances there is a great deal of scope. I support what the Government are doing and think that the motion has absolutely no merit whatsoever.

[Several hon. Members]

rose—