Less academic children are being “set up to fail”

A new report has highlighted that there is concern that less academic pupils are being failed by an increasingly academic school system.

According to a report from The Key - an organisation providing leadership and management support to schools - found that more than seven in 10 (73 per cent) secondary school leaders in England are calling for the school system to provide better outcomes for their vocationally and technically minded pupils

The State of Education survey also revealed that more than three-quarters (78 per cent) of secondary school leaders believe too much focus is placed on academic testing as a measure of pupils’ success. The same proportion (78 per cent) has seen an increase in fear of academic failure among pupils over the past two years.

Provision in vocational and technical education, which includes subjects such as catering, construction and engineering, has become weaker in more than half (56 per cent) of secondary schools since 2014.

Many school leaders attribute this to changes over the past two years in how school performance is measured and the greater focus on pupils’ achievement in academic subjects.

Almost a third (31 per cent) of the secondary heads and school leaders surveyed think these changes have also had a negative impact on pupils’ readiness for the workplace or further education.

In addition to this, eight in 10 (80 per cent) of the secondary school leaders surveyed by The Key maintain that the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) performance measure, in particular, is limiting opportunities for their pupils with vocational or technical aptitude.

According to the latest Department for Education statistics, while the percentage of lower attaining pupils to enter the EBacc increased in 2015/16, their achievement rates went down.

The government has pledged to introduce 15 new, post-16 pathways in vocational careers like childcare and construction by September 2022. However, some secondary school leaders worry that this could be too little, too late for pupils who might be ‘turned off learning’ or ‘feel like failures’ before they leave school.

Speaking about the findings, Fergal Roche, CEO of The Key said: “As the UK embarks on its exit from the EU, building the skills and workforce for the future is especially important, and that means optimising the potential of every child. Of course, pupils should have access to a challenging and stimulating academic curriculum, but to truly work for all children, the education system needs to value and make space for different types of learning and success.”