– This is not a con trick, says company chief
– Pupils must pass an exam (after three days)
School leaders are being urged to enter “vulnerable” pupils into fast-tracked ICT qualifications, taught in just three days, to ensure they achieve five A* to C grades.
The PiXL Club, an organisation that aims to raise attainment in schools, has this week sent emails encouraging its 1,300 members to consider enrolling pupils for the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) qualification.
It is worth the equivalent of a GCSE in school performance tables.
PiXL suggested enrolling “vulnerable” pupils who could take the exam as an “insurance policy” to ensure they got five GCSEs.
The email also said the qualification would contribute towards a school’s value added scores.
Members were told that some schools were planning to run three days of intensive classes preparing pupils for the online exams – once their other GCSEs were completed.
PiXL is a not-for-profit organisation that charges schools up to £3,200 a year to join. In return, schools receive access to conferences, online resources and development programmes, all with the aim of improving exam results.
Another email, circulated to PiXL members, said: “There are many reasons to consider this course over the longer term but the interest in it short term is to avoid students ending up with English and maths and only two others [GCSEs].
“It happened quite a bit last year and caused considerable upset. It is a good well-established course with a future as well as a past. Many schools have plans longer term and a lot are using it this way for this year. It is over to you, as ever. This is meant to help.”
PiXL members were told their applications could be “fast tracked” if they mentioned the membership organisation when contacting BCS, the chartered institute for IT which provides the qualification.
One school leader who received the email told Schools Week that it went against the spirit of messages from the government over “dumbing down and gaming”.
“The impression is ‘pay your money and do these token things and we’ll make sure all your pupils get an extra grade C’. I’m disgusted.”
An exam board representative said: “They are essentially saying here is a quick way of getting another qualification and performance points without doing the teaching.”
Responding to the criticism, PiXL chief Sir John Rowling – a former headteacher of 19 years – said: “This is not a con trick here. Pupils have to pass an external exam.”
He said that the qualification helped schools safeguard against variations in marking and grade boundaries, and ensured pupils secured a sixth-form place.
Former education secretary Michael Gove led a clampdown on “gaming” during his years in office. He described it as “schools using students as a means of gathering points so the school can look better than it is”.
But Sir John said that there was “a real crisis” in schools. “The interest of kids and schools are set at odds against each other by the system. I don’t sit in judgment of schools that live in fear of their jobs.”
He met with BCS officials last week to discuss the qualification. After speaking to his board, the qualification was featured in a PiXL conference last week and the email subsequently sent to members.
He told Schools Week that his email was passing on the facts from BCS to PiXL’s members.
In a statement, BCS said it had initiated contact with PiXL.
“[We] invited them to meet to see how we could work together in the future to help support school leaders with their young people, giving them the opportunity of more choice and raising standards.”
BCS said there was no special deal or partnership with PiXL, but that it had passed on marketing material and its pricing structure, which was not available publicly.
BCS refused to say how much they charge for the ECDL qualification because they offer tailored packages to each school.
The BCS website describes the qualification as evidence of the digital literacy skills of learners. It includes four units – word processing, spreadsheets, presentation and application – and offers “performance points” from 58 for a distinction to 40 for a pass.
Difficult to see where the story is here. This is a DFE-approved qualification where students need to sit an external examination. There are no “walkover” courses these days – the DfE have seen to that. ECDL accredits prior learning – which in the case of ICT is cross-curricular in nature. PiXL is simply drawing attention to the fact that it exists and putting that information before its members – in line with its purpose as an organisation.
The story is… companies and organisations sucking money out of public-funding at the instigation of their privatising pals in government. It stinks.
3 days! What a load of rubbish. 30 hours for each unit is the recommended allowance.
My son is doing it in 3 days, Neil.
Of course it’s gaming PiXlPaul. If only all schools stood together and said “we won’t do this this!” instead of all jumping on the ECDL cheap points bandwagon. ECDL is also bloody expensive, at a time when budgets are squeezed schools are spending literally tens of thousands of pounds on it, while companies are queueing up to take our cash for a qualification they promise can be delivered in 5 days.
My son is doing the ECDL this week. He’s been coached for one day each in Word, Powerpoint (both of which he’s used before) and Excel (which he hasn’t). He got 90+% for Word and Excel. 75% is pass. He’s a C-level student for most subjects after three years GCSE teaching.
I don’t want to devalue his achievement in doing well with the ECDL, hence this anonymous message. But I’m convinced that this is a cheap dumbed-down qualification. It runs counter to the decision to scrap ICT in schools in favour of computer science – ie programming – showing up a mess in educational policy. It will misleadingly inflate schools performance, covering up failings in genuine education. And employers and FE institutes will wise up, and not accept it as an valid qualification. School students are being conned
ECDL is a vocational Level 2 qualification. It gives students practical skills. It can be taught in 3 days because students did ICT at KS3 for the current KS4 cohorts.
People are getting upset as schools are doing it in 3 days. Not all students are doing it in three days; they still have to pass.
Many thanks to my son’s school who have been giving him the first day of his ECDL today.
Excellent idea to teach this material and splendid to give the qualification.
Absolute farce to say that it is the equivalent of a GCSE.
Five years learning a foreign language versus 3 days popping into school during half term? Don’t make me laugh!