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Uptake of three-day ICT ‘GCSE’ soars 2,000 per cent

The number of pupils entering a fast-tracked ICT qualification – worth a GCSE and taught in just three days – has rocketed more than 2,000 per cent in a year.

Schools Week revealed last month that education leaders were being urged to enter “vulnerable” pupils into the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) qualification to ensure they achieved five A* to C GCSE grades.

The qualification can count towards the five passes metric in school performance tables.

New figures published by Ofqual have now revealed the number of pupils taking the qualification has soared in recent months.

A total of 9,650 certificates were issued between January and March this year – compared with 450 in the same period last year.

Liam Collins (pictured), headteacher at Uplands Community College, East Sussex, and a member of the Headteachers’ Roundtable group, said: “I can see why courses outside the normal curriculum are being looked at by schools.

Liam-Collins

“As we know, if you have a below-average ability intake you are more likely to receive a requires improvement or inadequate Ofsted inspection… and the likelihood of filling all the baskets of the Progress 8 [performance indicator] also diminishes.

“Therefore, with gun-to-the-head policy announcements and high stakes inspections, the fear of losing your job will be the driver to some people’s curriculum decisions.”

Last month, the PiXL Club, an organisation that aims to raise attainment in schools, encouraged its 1,300 members to consider enrolling pupils for the ECDL qualification.

PiXL-logo

Members were told that some schools were planning to run a three-day intensive course to prepare pupils for the online exams, once their other GCSEs were completed.

PiXL suggested enrolling “vulnerable” pupils who could take the exam as an “insurance policy” for five GCSEs.

A school leader who received the email said it went against the spirit of messages from the government over “dumbing down and gaming”.

A spokesperson for BCS, the chartered institute for IT, which provides the qualification, said the increase mirrored schools wanting to teach the new computing curriculum.

“To meet this requirement many schools want to teach a broad and balanced curriculum as recommended by Ofsted.

“Schools want to make sure they teach digital literacy as much as they teach computer science; this includes providing qualifications in each of those areas.”

She added the schools-specific qualification was introduced in September 2013. “We’ve seen a transition from our other qualifications to the schools-specific version. This has been consistent with our expectations and is also consistent with the increase of similar qualifications from other providers.”

 

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3 Comments

  1. Putting the story straight

    The BCS Level 2 ECDL Certificate in IT Application skills has been designed specifically for schools. This means they can tailor it to fit with their timetable and curriculum programme. The majority of students taking the qualification are in Year 10 and Year 11 and they complete it over a 12 or 24 month period. Some schools do run intensive revision sessions, as they do for any other subject prior to exams, building on core knowledge already developed over a long period.

    We do not condone any school running BCS Level 2 ECDL Certificate in IT Application skills over a 3 day period and do not believe that this qualification can be taught in 3 days.

    Having launched the qualification in September 2013, we would expect to see an increase in the number of certificates issued; these are students who are in the process of completing during their 12 or 24 month programme, some of whom have transitioned from other programmes.

    The increase also reflects the value schools place on the digital literacy skills ECDL helps their students learn as part of the computing curriculum. This qualification is also widely recognised by employers.

    IT skills are broadly used across schools in many subjects and ECDL can be used to build on and enhance any pre-existing IT skills the student has. For example, we have seen it being used with Year 9 students to achieve their first qualification which the school believes helps prepare students for Key Stage 4, taking advantage of the skills they learn in all their other examination subjects. There is a case study on our website if you are interested in this.

  2. Anonymous Glos

    It is terrible, we had to do this instead of our proper Computing GCSE just because the teacher was lazy and thought that many couldn’t handle a real GCSE. I am now sitting with my ECDL Certificate and wishing I stood up to my teacher and said I wanted to carry on with the Computing Course.

  3. This was the best thing that happened for me and my class. I didn’t want to do Comoputinh and neither did many in my class. I couldn’t get to grips with it and was guaranteed to fail. The course helped out and actually have me skills I need rather than specific computing skills I won’t need in a average job.