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#BTColumn – Standards improved after UK quit 11 plus

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by Garry Hornby

I was intrigued when I read the comment by Dr Colin Cumberbatch, principal of St Stephen’s Primary School, reported in the SUNDAY SUN, that, after the 11 plus exam was abandoned in the UK, “primary school teachers developed a lackadaisical attitude and standards in education started to fall”.

I had never heard of this before, so decided to investigate and found a document published by the UK House of Commons Library (Bolton, 2012) with some relevant statistics, that in fact indicate the opposite of what Dr Cumberbatch has claimed.

It was the 1944 Education Act that established grammar schools with selective entry via an 11 plus exam in the UK.
However, in 1965 Circular 10/65 encouraged Local Education Authorities (LEAs) to change to non-selective comprehensive schools, abandoning the 11 plus exam.

Over the next few years, the majority of LEAs implemented this, and currently 95 per cent of public secondary schools in England and Wales are comprehensives with non-selective enrolment, and only a few grammar schools are left.

I am particularly interested in all this because I sat the 11 plus in the north of England in 1959 and was one of the lucky 15 per cent of pupils in my area who got a grammar school education, while my best friend and closest cousin did not pass the 11 plus, and had an inferior education, leaving school with no qualifications whatsoever.

Following grammar school, I went on to university and in 1971 got my first teaching job back in the secondary school that I had attended. But by that time it had changed from being a grammar school to a comprehensive school, with open enrolment for all children who lived in the area that the school served. Having had this experience, and realising the deficiencies of the discarded 11 plus system, explains why I was interested in finding out just how this major change had affected education standards following its abandonment.

Statistics from the House of Commons Library Report (Bolton, 2012) included the percentage of pupils gaining five or more ‘O’ levels (later called GCSEs), which is widely considered to be an objective measure of education standards.
The report shows that in 1953/54, when the 11 plus exam and grammar schools were fully operational, 10.7 per cent of pupils in their last year at school gained five or more passes.

Whereas, by 1970/71, a few years after the 11 plus was abandoned, the pass rate was 22.01 per cent. In fact, there was a gradual increase in the percentage of pupils in their last year at school who gained five or more passes for every year it is reported, with 1980/81 being 25 per cent, 1990/91 being 36.8 per cent, 2000/01 being 50 per cent, and 2011/12 being 81.1 per cent.

So, it is clear that abandoning the 11 plus and grammar schools in favour of comprehensive schools in England led to a gradual and substantial improvement in education standards as measured by GCSE passes at age 16 years, with the latest available figures reporting around 80 per cent of pupils in their last year of compulsory education gaining qualifications that will take them onto further study, or to get jobs.

This is in contrast to the current situation in Barbados. Although official figures are not published, some commentators (eg. Walrond, 2016) have suggested that up to 80 percent of children who enter secondary schools in Barbados leave without gaining any qualifications.

This disastrous situation has pervasive consequences, both for the futures of these young people and for the country’s social and economic development. It must be addressed by reforming the education system, and this is urgent if Barbados is to be competitive in the 21st Century world.

Therefore, the substantial increase in education standards that occurred in England following abandoning the 11 plus suggests that education reform in Barbados should definitely involve abandoning the Common Entrance Examination as soon as possible.

Of course, this is not the only issue to be considered as part of education reform but it is an essential aspect of it. Our Prime Minister and Minister of Education have realised this and, on several occasions, stated that the 11 plus exam system for transfer to secondary schools must be abandoned.

Another point raised by Dr Cumberbatch is also contentious. This is the apparent suggestion that doing away with the 11 plus would leave primary school teachers with nothing to aim for. His assumption seems to be that the main aim of primary school teachers in Barbados is to produce excellent 11 plus results, in order to help as many as possible of their pupils get into the top secondary schools, while also enhancing the reputation of their primary schools. This is completely understandable reaction to the current education system.

However, the reality is that the pressure to produce good 11 plus results, means that the primary curriculum is constrained as children are drilled to pass an exam. Also, many schools engage in the streaming of children into ability groups from as young as seven years of age, with most attention being paid to those in higher streams.

Children who are struggling are less likely to have their needs addressed and therefore may make limited progress. Once children are pigeon-holed into streams at such a young age, it becomes increasingly difficult for them to move into a higher stream, with many children getting further and further behind their peers.

By the time they leave primary school a large proportion of them have not developed sufficient literacy and numeracy skills for them to be successful at secondary school.

This is the most important issue that primary school teachers need be aiming to address and I am confident that they will be willing and able to fully take up this challenge once they are no longer constrained by having to teach for passing the Common Entrance Exam.

Once the need to focus most of their time and effort on preparing children for the 11 plus exam has been eliminated, primary school teachers will be able to deliver a more broadly-based and relevant curriculum.

This will include developing a balance of basic academic skills, including reading, writing and mathematics, along with other important curriculum areas such as science and social studies, as well as the interpersonal skills needed for developing the personal confidence necessary for a successful career and a productive life.

Having this broader aim teachers will be able to address children’s learning difficulties, help develop their gifts and talents, and aim for all children to achieve to their maximum potential.

To help them in this task, teachers will be able to use the Criteria Reference Testing (CRT) that the Ministry of Education has introduced into primary schools, which is a more useful form of assessment than summative assessments like the 11 plus exam.
CRT helps to target teaching on areas that need to be developed, for individual children as well as for entire classes, thereby ensuring that their teaching is effective in optimising learning.

When widely implemented CRT will lead to an increase in the proportion of children leaving primary schools with adequate reading, writing and maths skills for their secondary education.

In addition to facilitating academic learning, without the constraints of the 11 plus exam, primary school teachers will also be able to focus more on personal and interpersonal skill development through teaching social and emotional learning programs.

In this way they will be able to teach the so-called soft skills that employers consider are essential for being successful at work, including teamwork, communication, time management, conflict resolution and problem-solving skills.

Also, teachers will be able to use strategies such as Circle Time and peer support programs to create positive learning environments that prevent disruptive and violent behaviour, reduce bullying to a minimum, and prevent the development of mental health problems.

The result of these changes will be that many more children will be able to move on to secondary school with the basic academic skills, confidence and interpersonal skills needed for success, than has been the case under the 11 plus regime that currently exists.

Therefore, the key to reforming the education system in Barbados is moving away from a selective secondary school system based on the 11 plus exam, which is focused on the achievement of a high level of academic qualifications by a minority of students, to one that provides all of our young people with an excellent primary school education as a sound basis on which to be successful at secondary school and in adult life.

References: Bolton, P. (2012). Education: Historical statistics. House of Commons Library. London, England. Walrond, O.
(2016). Westminster’s Jewel: The Barbados Story. Bridgetown, Barbados: Olutoye Walrond

Garry Hornby is an Emeritus Professor of Education and can be contacted at: hornbygarry@gmail.com

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