Exam Reform

Jane Ellison Excerpts
Monday 17th September 2012

(12 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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We are always pleased to learn about the Secretary of State’s social engagements.

Jane Ellison Portrait Jane Ellison (Battersea) (Con)
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I very much welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement, and his words about academic rigour will be welcomed by many schools in my constituency, not least Bolingbroke academy, which opened today. Will he be looking to learn from exam systems from other parts of the world that are generally acknowledged to be very rigorous?

Michael Gove Portrait Michael Gove
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My hon. Friend makes a very good point. One of the problems with the debate in this country, as the Deputy Prime Minister points out in an excellent article in today’s Evening Standard, is that it has tended to be introspective and backward-looking. My hon. Friend is right that we need to look outward and forward to those countries that have the best-performing education systems.