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15/01/2016
English GCSE Exam Providers To Stop Offering Exams In NI
English GCSE exam providers are to stop offering their exams in Northern Ireland.
Ulster Unionist education spokesperson Sandra Overend said the move is "inevitable", after Education Minister John O'Dowd's decision not to follow changes to the grading system.
Mrs Overend said she warned that it could lead to a situation where the open market for GCSEs could be ended.
Mrs Overend said: "With the decision of the English exam boards to discontinue offering their exams here, this is exactly what is happening. Effectively an unhealthy and uncompetitive monopoly is being created for the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA) in exam provision here.
"It looks to me that there has been a deliberate decision taken by a politically motivated Minister, to drive the big English providers out of the local exam market. He is clearly not disappointed by the exam boards' decision at all, and has left schools in a very difficult position, in terms of the GCSE courses they can offer their students.
"In November, whilst the DUP welcomed the Sinn Fein decision to retain the alphabetical grading system, the Ulster Unionist Party warned of the consequences. For 3 years we have consistently stated that it was imperative that we retain parity with England in GCSE grading. The decision to break parity and retain the alphabetical grading system was wrong, and our students are going to be disadvantaged."
(CD/MH)
Ulster Unionist education spokesperson Sandra Overend said the move is "inevitable", after Education Minister John O'Dowd's decision not to follow changes to the grading system.
Mrs Overend said she warned that it could lead to a situation where the open market for GCSEs could be ended.
Mrs Overend said: "With the decision of the English exam boards to discontinue offering their exams here, this is exactly what is happening. Effectively an unhealthy and uncompetitive monopoly is being created for the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA) in exam provision here.
"It looks to me that there has been a deliberate decision taken by a politically motivated Minister, to drive the big English providers out of the local exam market. He is clearly not disappointed by the exam boards' decision at all, and has left schools in a very difficult position, in terms of the GCSE courses they can offer their students.
"In November, whilst the DUP welcomed the Sinn Fein decision to retain the alphabetical grading system, the Ulster Unionist Party warned of the consequences. For 3 years we have consistently stated that it was imperative that we retain parity with England in GCSE grading. The decision to break parity and retain the alphabetical grading system was wrong, and our students are going to be disadvantaged."
(CD/MH)
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