Even the architect of GCSEs, former education secretary Lord Baker, thinks their days are numbered now the school leaving age has been raised to 18. He has been campaigning for a number of years for the qualification to be “quietly put to sleep“. His views are shared by a growing number of influential figures in England.

The annual trip to a school gymnasium with a pencil and biro to take an examination has become an anachronism. Work needs to begin in earnest to fix our exam system. Enter our new movement, Rethinking Assessment, which aims to do just that. 

Made up of a unique alliance of independent and state school headteachers, employers and researchers, Rethinking Assessment will be making the case for change through case studies, analysis and evidence in a range of media; and suggesting workable solutions, practical ideas and approaches to prototype a fairer system.

Rethinking Assessment is actively looking for fairer and more relevant ways of tracking students’ progress throughout their time at school. Its members are already experimenting with alternatives to GCSE. 

This year, we need to do two things: provide high-quality moderated work that shows the standards current exam students are achieving and try to use this moment to start thinking about how we can trial alternative means of recognising a more expansive range of students’ strengths.

We don’t have to start from scratch, either. There is much to learn from countries across the world who are pioneering new approaches. Here is just a flavour.

1  Create your own character scorecard
2 Adapt the Extended Project Qualification for use in Key Stage 4
3 Go comparative