Exam Reform Bill 2015

A bill to reform the process of examination for primary school, secondary school and sixth form pupils.

BE IT ENACTED by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, in accordance with the provisions of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

1: National Curriculum Assessments

1.1 From the 1st of August 2015 National Curriculum Assessments will cease to be taken by any pupils in schools controlled by their local education authority (LEA) or directly by the department of Education.

2: General Certificate of Secondary Education

2.1 For their general certificate of Secondary Education every pupil must have the chance of having each subject be graded partially via the use of coursework.

(i) In the instance that a pupil takes the coursework option the coursework should contribute to no less than 10% of their grade and no more than 30%

(i) The school must decide when the coursework is taken and it may decide for it to be taken at any time over the period in which students study for their GCSE’s in year 10 & year 11 of secondary school.

2.2 For their general certificate of Secondary Education every pupil must have the chance of retaking any examination between 1 and 3 times.

3: General Certificate of Education Advanced Level Reform

3.1 AS Levels will make up 50% of the total grade of the total A-Level.

3.3 Every pupil should be given the chance to be assessed through coursework amounting to between 10% & 30% of their entire A Level Mark for each subject.

3.4 Pupils will have the option to retake any AS Level exam between 1 and 3 times.

3.5 Pupils will have the option to retake any A2 Level exam between 1 and 3 times.

3.6 Pupils will take at least one examination in January of each year.

4. Coursework

4.1. All Coursework is to be independently marked

4.2. All Coursework is to take place within school premises

4.3. A Coursework invigilator is to be present whenever students are completing Coursework.

5. National Examination Board of England

5.1. The department of Education is to establish the National Examination Board of England (NEBE) by 1st July 2017.

5.2. NEBE will be financed via funds allocated to the Department of Education by the Chancellor.

5.3. NEBE will be led by a Council made up of up to 30 leading stakeholders from the Education sector.

5.4 NEBE’S Council shall nominate the Chair of the Council from among its member using a one member one vote system

5.5. All officially recognised Teacher Unions must be offered at least 1 seat on the council.

5.6. The Council of NEBE shall be responsible for the overall strategy and direction of NEBE.

5.7. An Executive Board made up of 8 members shall be created with responsibility for the day-to-day leadership and management of NEBE.

5.8 The Executive Board shall have a Chief Executive Officer appointment by the Department for Education.

5.9. NEBE is to be the Examination board responsible for setting and awarding all Secondary level qualifications for LEA and Non-LEA controlled schools in England.

6: Short Title, Commencement and extent

6.1 This act may be cited as the Exam Reform Bill 2015

6.2 This Act shall come into force on 25 August 2016

6.3 This act shall extend to England only.

Costing

• The Chancellor has allocated an additional £500 million for the initial period over 2016-2017 going down to £100 million per year from 2017. These costs have been factored into the 2015 summer budget.

This bill was submitted by /u/theyeatthepoo on behalf of the Government.

Voting on this motion will end on the 4th of August at 10PM BST.

Vote Aye, Nay or Abstain. Comments with anything else will be deleted. Comments that are edited will be void and not counted.