Triumphant students obtained their results from the multi-award-winning school this morning, which revealed an impressive 84% pass rate with 25% graded 7-9. This represents an increase of 16% on the number of students passing compared to pre-pandemic results.

The Principal of DLD College London, Irfan Latif, commented: “We are incredibly proud of our students for their achievements. This year’s results are highly impressive; the dedication and diligence from our students is evident, in addition to the commitment from our devoted staff members.

“At DLD College London we are committed to delivering a high standard of education, while also ensuring that we help each student to build their confidence within a supportive and inspiring setting. We are assured that our students will continue to grow within themselves and progress academically towards a promising future, with many of them continuing their studies here at DLD.”

The research, which aims to examine the lack of female representation and voice in English Literature, found that An Inspector Calls and A Christmas Carol were the two most taught texts, which were studied at 80% and 72% respectively at GCSE level (Year 10 & 11). Both of which are in the top texts taught at KS3 meaning that many pupils are taught the same texts twice between Years 7 and 11. Data was collected from three out of four awarding bodies; Pearson Edexcel, the second largest awarding body, who stated they could not provide us with an analysis of their statistics by the gender of the author.

Within these texts the female characters are either victims or servants, which leaves little to offer in terms of representation of women. While these can lead to important discussions it would be more valuable to students to also have discussions around positive representations of women. Only ever having the opportunity to discuss women as victims of misogyny perpetuates a narrative of women as victims of a patriarchal society, reinforcing the notion of sexual inequality as an expected norm.

Of the female authored books on the approved text list, Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice were the most common inclusions, however both are the longest novels on the lists, 624 and 448 pages respectively. This makes it harder for teachers to justify their selection over the shorter male authored texts. The result is that female authored texts are not equally matched in terms of teachability and accessibility to the male authored choices, immediately putting them at a disadvantage.

While authorship is of importance there is also a large discrepancy between the number of female protagonists compared to that of male, and after all, it is the characters and not the authors that pupils will spend most time discussing in lessons. On the set lists 7 in 10 texts for both 19th Century novel and for Modern Prose and Drama have a male protagonist, showing a bias towards the teaching of texts with a male protagonist.

By only providing the option for pupils to engage with male perspectives on the world in the literature they read, not only do boys never learn to empathise with and appreciate the viewpoints and experiences of women, but they also get the clear message that women’s voices and perspectives are less important and less valid.

While work in recent years has been done to increase diversity, often this is implemented with a two birds one stone approach with new additions added to the approved text list by female authors of colour. While this is a great first step, it often involves swapping out less studied texts for new novels meaning few schools will be inclined to change the status quo. The message is clear; the supremacy of white male writing cannot be challenged. The core canon of white male authors is not being changed, and by combining gender and race, it disproportionately affects the representation of white female authors and male authors of colour, who have been all but erased from the modern prose and drama paper.

Rachel Fenn, Founding Member of ESIS & English teacher comments: “While these stats are shocking, they are hardly surprising. The traditional canon of English Literature has always valued the white male voice over others since its creation in the early twentieth century. However, for the next generation to grow up challenging a patriarchal view of the world, both boys and girls need to be exposed to strong and empowering representations of women, not the voiceless victims and servants we see repeatedly in the perennially popular texts taught in English lessons. We are what we read – is it any wonder how Andrew Tate has managed to infiltrate the schooling system and violence against women remains such an endemic problem in our society when our academic curriculum spins this narrative in every lesson?

While improving PSHE offered in schools is a step in the right direction to improve equality and address sexism, it fails to tackle the underlying systems which perpetuate the ideology that women are less than and their voices are not worth being heard. This is why ESIS is striving so hard to push examining bodies to ensure an equal balance of male and female authored texts and protagonists, and provide schools with meaningful practical support to help them change the texts they teach. We’ve had enough of virtue signalling and platitudes; we want action, and we want it now.’

You can read the research in full and explore ways to get involved on the End Sexism In Schools website: https://endsexisminschools.org.uk/

Following a public consultation, the Department for Education has confirmed changes to French, German and Spanish GCSEs, supported by a research review by Ofsted, to help students build confidence and excel in learning languages.

In the updated GCSEs, students will be assessed on the most common vocabulary used in conversations and writing, as well as grammar and pronunciation, increasing clarity for teachers and improving the practical benefits for students.

Research shows that a focus on these ‘building blocks’ enables students to more clearly see progress in their ability to understand and use the language, and in turn grow in confidence and motivation.

The changes aim to fulfil the government’s ambition for 90% of Year 10 pupils to study EBacc subjects for GCSE by September 2025. So far, over 95% of students have been entered for GCSE English, maths and science and over 80% in humanities subjects, and the government wants to increase the number of students studying language GCSEs too.

The consultation was based on recommendations from an expert panel chaired by Ian Bauckham and received 1,644 responses, with the majority from language teachers agreeing with the proposals. The plans for the new French, German and Spanish GCSEs reflect sector feedback, giving exam boards an additional year to develop them.

Schools Minister Robin Walker said: “Studying languages opens up a world of new, exciting opportunities for people and is hugely important for a modern global economy.

“That’s why we want more young people to take up modern language GCSEs, and these evidence-based changes aim to do just that – making these qualifications more well-rounded and accessible, and helping more young people to enjoy learning languages.”

The revised GCSEs will start to be taught in September 2024, with first exams being held in 2026. The changes to the language GCSEs include:

• Students will be assessed on the basis of 1,200 ‘word families’ at foundation tier GCSE and 1,700 ‘word families’ in higher tier GCSE
• An example of a word family could be ‘manage’, ‘managed’ and ‘manages’. Exam boards will select topics and themes to inform the selection of key vocabulary, as opposed being prescribed in the subject content
• At least 85 per cent of the ‘word families’ will be selected from the 2,000 most frequently occurring words in a language to make sure students have a good knowledge of the most common words

Ofqual has also confirmed the assessment approach today, following a public consultation, which sets out the revised assessment objectives and confirms that the current use of tiered assessments and non-exam assessment (NEA) will continue. Ofqual will now conduct a public technical consultation on the details of assessment requirements and then exam boards will develop GCSE specifications, ready to be taught from September 2024.

The newly accredited Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) English Language 2.0 qualification, which will be available for teaching at the start of the 2021-2022 academic year, provides students with a strong foundation for further academic or vocational pathways through real-world, applicable content.

Based on feedback from teachers, the new, one-year specification supports students following a less traditionally literary pathway through their English studies or educators looking for a fresh, new English Language course to motivate those required to re-sit.

With an innovative approach to the 19th century text requirement that sees 19th-century, non-fiction newspaper articles and instructional pieces of writing used rather than 19th century fiction, the qualification uses texts with relatable, modern themes and focuses on real-world applicable writing tasks such as letters of application.

Speaking about the new qualification, Katy Lewis, Head of English and Drama (pictured), said: “Every year 750,000 people take their English GCSE. In consulting with the English teaching community last year, we recognised that a one-size fits all approach to English Language doesn’t equally suit the needs, interests and progression of all learners.

“We wanted to develop a qualification that was equal but different to the English Language GCSEs that are currently available to learners across the UK, whilst motivating and engaging students to equip themselves with life-long skills.”

Requiring no co-teaching of literature, the functional qualification is designed to reinvigorate English language learning and pave the way for exam success whilst exposing learners to a broad range of diverse and inclusive texts.

As part of the organisation’s work with the Lit in Colour programme, Penguin Random House UK will also be providing schools and settings taking the new specification with access to a bespoke anthology of texts by contemporary writers and writers of colour.

The specification has been described as a “positive move” by teachers involved in its development, which allows students to truly engage and showcase their knowledge, providing them with “a better chance of success because the qualification meets their needs.”

Ruth Rhoden-Farmer, GCSE and FS English Lecturer at Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group, said: “The new GCSE format and resources will give each student the opportunity to explore visually engaging texts, engage with the English Language heritage, and apply the techniques they have discovered in their own writing.”

Pearson will be providing schools and settings with specification and sample assessment materials, mapping documents, schemes of work and one-year planners, a comprehensive programme of online training and network events and one-to-one support from an English specialist to support them in delivering the qualification with confidence.

To find out more about the new Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) English Language 2.0 qualification, please visit quals.pearson.com/Lift

Activate Learning and peer tutoring organisation Yipiyap have created a system that connects students with a tutor of their choice, close to them in age, to give them additional support and teaching in a series of online lessons.

Up to 600 students from Activate Learning’s seven colleges are taking part, with over 20 tutors from across the UK. They themselves have recently completed A Levels.

Anne Morris of Yipiyap, says: “Peer teaching has proven results as the tutors are close in age and relatable – they help bring a bit of fun to it. We already work with schools to provide peer tutors for in-class support, but this is the first time we have created a complete network with the express purpose of helping with exam resits.”

Anne Haig-Smith at Activate Learning, said: “We are delighted to be working on this innovative new project.”

As it now stands, the dates student will receive their grades are those which were in place before GCSEs and A-levels were cancelled for 2020. Back in March, when the exams were cancelled, the government had stated that students would receive their grades sometime before the end of July, raising concerns among practitioners that the proposed replacement system would not be able to deliver grades in the timescale.

It now appears that saner council has prevailed, with the switch to the original dates being broadly welcomed.

MyTutor – the UK’s leading online tutoring service – in a bid to support those working diligently on their studies at home, have launched a new, free Online School which is packed with help for GCSE students. The platform offers daily live group tutorials on key GCSE topics and new resources are added every day. Pre-recorded videos focussing on popular topics are also uploaded to MyTutor’s YouTube channel regularly, across a wide range of subjects, but are currently centred around the core subjects: Maths, the three Sciences and English.

Now more than ever it is essential to provide access to crucial resources for students looking to continue their education from home. While schools are shut and the COVID-19 pandemic continues, this platform will remain free to help students and support schools in their efforts to present the GCSE curriculums at home.

James Grant  – Co-founder of MyTutor – discusses the need for private firms such as MyTutor to help support the public sector during this time:

“Pupils working in isolation from home because of containment measures could face learning challenges at a critical period. Fortunately, online platforms can be accessed in a convenient and hygienic way across the UK. MyTutor are incredibly pleased to launch this new service for GCSE students, which we believe will be a vital resource for those looking to continue their studies from home.

“MyTutor has advocated the use of EdTech in the classroom for a long time, and now we have the chance to assist schools, teachers and pupils as they work from home. We want to ensure we support all children with their continued learning during this tricky time and so are delighted to be able to provide this valuable and easily-accessible platform for free.”

For this summer’s awards, schools and colleges are being asked to provide centre assessment grades for their students. These should be fair, objective and carefully considered judgements of the grades schools and colleges believe their students would have been most likely to achieve if they had sat their exams, and should take into account the full range of available evidence.

Sally Collier, Chief Regulator, Ofqual, said: “School or college based assessment already has an important role in many GCSEs, AS and A levels and in extraordinary circumstances such as these, schools and colleges are best placed to judge the likely performance of their students at the end of the course.

“We have worked closely with the teaching profession to ensure that what we are asking is both appropriate and manageable, so that everyone can have confidence in the approach. I would like to take this opportunity to thank teachers and school leaders for making this process work for students during these very challenging times.

“We have published a message to students to reassure them that we, and exam boards, will do everything we can to make sure that, as far as possible, grades are fair and that they are not disadvantaged in their progress to sixth form, college, university, apprenticeships, training or work because of these unprecedented conditions.”

Exam boards will be contacting schools, colleges and other exam centres after Easter asking them to submit, by a deadline that will be no earlier than 29 May 2020, the following:

• a centre assessment grade for every student in each of their subjects: that is, the grade they would be most likely to have achieved if they had sat their exams and completed any non-exam assessment. Judgements should balance different sources of evidence such as:
  • classwork
  • bookwork
  • any participation in performances in subjects such as music, drama or PE
  • any non-exam assessment – whether or not complete
  • the results of any assignments or mock exams
  • previous examination results – for example, for any re-sitting students or those with relevant AS qualifications
  • any other records of student performance over the course of study
• the rank order of students within each grade for each subject – for example, for all those students with a centre assessment grade of 5 in GCSE maths, a rank order where 1 is the most secure/highest attaining student, and so on. This information will be used in the statistical standardisation of centres’ judgements – allowing fine tuning of the standard applied across all schools and colleges
• a declaration from the Head of Centre making the submission

To make sure that grades are as fair as possible across schools and colleges, exam boards will put all centre assessment grades through a process of standardisation using a model being developed with Ofqual.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcses-as-and-a-level-awarding-summer-2020

“We are continuously updating our services, because we want to be sure our material is up-to-date with the latest curriculum so we can support teachers in delivering great teaching and learning. Discovery Education released the new set texts to address the demand by English teachers and students for 2015 GCSE content and to expand our offering across a range of specs for English,” explains Anna Vaughan, Curriculum Strategy and Development Manager at Discovery Education.

The videos cover the various areas a student must explore with the novel: language, theme, characters, context, etc. This includes looking at the contextual influences of a novel, for example exploring the real 19^th century science behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, investigating how language is manipulated in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, or how Jane Austen represents the privilege of Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. Alongside lesson plans, these resources will allow students and teachers to prepare with assurance for their English Literature exams.

These engaging and helpful videos, which are ideal as lesson starters or as revision materials, were created specifically for all current GCSEs. While teachers will also find some of the set texts resources suitable for Key Stage 3 study.

All of these resources are available within the schools’ Discovery Education Secondary subscription.

Discovery Education Secondary is a new digital service, offering video-rich, cross-curricular, dynamic content, designed to empower teachers and inspire students to reach their full potential. The programme provides thousands of digital resources to support the teaching of the curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4.

Helen Cunningham, Publishing Director, UK Education at Cambridge University Press, explains, “We know that teaching and learning are changing, which is why we’ve created this flexible, rich and easy-to-use resource. Seeing or hearing clips written about content can help students’ understanding and recall, as well as provide them with multiple ways to access and engage with what they’re studying, regardless of their learning style. Which is why we’ve developed this tool to provide a wealth of ways to access the texts, whatever the learning preference of the student.

“All our digital content is being created from scratch, with the commitment to inspire learning at its heart and we’ve worked closely with students and teachers to identify which new technologies most appeal to them and work best in their classroom.”

Gary Pollard, Head of English at AQA, adds, “We want teachers to have the time and energy to deliver quality learning in every lesson, every day – to be the inspiring teacher they’ve always wanted to be. There really is something in the resource for every planning, provision and teaching need, so by providing them with this bank of resources, tools and support, we believe we’re helping to free them up to be creative when they most need it.

“In a world where virtual learning environments (VLEs) have become a key part of the classroom, how teachers can use set texts has been an obvious area needing to catch up with how teachers teach today. Teachers involved in the testing have reported that they can spend more time focussing on creating and steering student discussions because they have immediate access to all the resources they need for each chapter of a text.”

The AQA English e-Library can be accessed via tablets and PCs through a classroom-based and downloadable app. With the built in message service, teachers can set, discuss and feedback on tasks with students, and group students according to ability, where they are in the content, or for specific group tasks. It will be available free of charge from summer 2015, exclusively to those who are teaching AQA’s specifications.

Cunningham adds, “We want all students to be inspired and achieve their best, and for each student to connect with English in a way that will resonate with them for a lifetime. Like AQA, we are passionate about English and really believe that this resource will help bring texts to life like never before.”