Warning over education reforms

The "erratic" introduction of education reforms has made it difficult to assess whether they are of benefit to students, research suggests.

The study of science and maths education by the Royal Society warned that reform must not be based on short term political ends.

It found that in the last 12 years, major reforms had had "worryingly little impact" on the numbers of teenagers taking science and maths after the age of 16.

Maths and science education in the UK, the report said, is "failing to provide the increases in the numbers of school leavers with science and maths qualifications required by industry, business and the research community to assure the UK's future economic competitiveness."

This in turn is worrying because of the needs of industry and business for more people with these skills, the need for more science and maths teachers in England and because the Government has stated it wants to increase the number of people with these skills, it said.

The report suggests that a "different approach" to reform is needed. "Instead of being geared to short-term political ends, educational reform should be driven by carefully considered and well-defined educational rationale, informed by evidence and advanced through a process of consultation, piloting and development."

The report claims that the science diploma, expected to be introduced in three years time, is being developed within a timeframe that is leaving too little time for testing it out, and that the new science GCSE awards, which were sat by 16-year-olds for the first time this summer, were brought in before any genuine evaluation of the pilot scheme had been carried out.

The report concludes that the impact of current reforms should be carefully monitored before any more changes are introduced, and suggests that "the process would benefit from a greater distancing from political control."

It adds that so far, "the intensity and diversity of the reform process, and its sometimes erratic character, make it difficult to judge against any kind of stable background whether our systems of science and mathematics education are fit for purpose, let alone whether they are improving."

A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "Recent exam results tell a different story and show that our reforms are having a positive impact. The number of young people taking maths and science A-levels continues to increase and this year the number of young people taking maths A-level was at its highest level in a decade - though we want to see even more progress, which is why we're investing millions in promoting science and maths as options for young people."

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