August saw the results of the school’s first external exam results since the disruption and uncertainty caused by the Covid pandemic, during which pupils’ knowledge was forcibly assessed in different ways, using coursework rather than purely exam-based assessments. This experience has led many to rethink the current examination system, with a diverse, cross-party selection of high-profile figures and establishments – e.g. Eton, St. Paul’s Girls’ School, Kenneth Baker, John Major, Tony Blair, David Blunkett, Alan Johnson and David Miliband – calling for the scrapping of the GCSE altogether. Last year (2022) Blair argued that the current system should be replaced by an International Baccalaureate-style ‘continual assessment’ model.
The GCE was originally established in 1951 (the period when the featured image was taken), replacing the long-standing School Certificate, which had previously been the chosen method of evaluating the academic ability of pupils. Several exam timetables are stored in the archive (with information and guidelines on the reverse), an example of which is the following 1957 edition, made only a few years after the introduction of the new GCE system. The layout and information set out in in the document is perhaps surprisingly similar to that found in this year’s timetable (although sadly, I fear the subjects Spinning & Handloom Weaving and Domestic Science are no longer on offer!).
As an example of the kind of questions which would have been set in the first decade of the original introduction of the GCE, shown below is the ‘General’ paper from 1959, formerly owned by OM John Tolley (MGS 1953-60) and now stored in the MGS Archive alongside several others. The paper’s vintage is reflected in the use of such terms as ‘people’s democracy’ (relating to the recent commencement of the Cold War) and ‘gramophone’, alongside the all-white/male list of novelists (not to mention the artists and composers), which – one suspects – would be unacceptable in these more enlightened (or virtue-signalling) times. Interesting also to note how some things never change as regards Russia’s relationship with NATO (see question 5). Incidentally, I wonder how many observant (or pedantic) pupils began their answer to question 15c with: “Assuming you intend to refer to L.S. rather than ‘T.S.’ Lowry . . .”
Moving on a couple of decades, pupil Robin Boardman, writing in The Mancunian, was perceptive enough to sense a change was coming as early as 1978, prompted by Labour’s Shirley Williams’ idea for a new GCSE (the additional ‘S’ standing for Secondary) qualification – which the author was clearly unconvinced by – nine years before her proposal was eventually put into practice by a Conservative government:
Since the introduction of the GCSE in 1987, a controversial ‘refinement’ of the grading system to allow for A* grades was introduced in 1994, inevitably followed by the A** option in 2017. Who knows how many asterisks will be available for examiners to express their ‘off-the-scale’ admiration of pupils’ ability by the time of next year’s exams, or whether the GCSE will ultimately go the way of the old School Certificate?
Otto Smart
Hoots from the archive 