Future of Common Entrance

Much has been written about Common Entrance (CE) and the transition at 13+. Julie Robinson, IAPS Education and Training Director, sets out the IAPS position and offers hope for the future.
PHOTO: SHERBORNE PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Common Entrance was introduced in 1904 as a senior schools entrance examination in order to save pupils from having to take several entrance examinations. Just like any formal system, it has been open to criticism. Yet, it has survived. David Hanson, CEO of IAPS, says, 'Common Entrance still defines the curriculum in many of our schools. Therefore, it is critical that it remains fit for purpose'. 107 years after its introduction, there are differing opinions about its fitness and established members of IAPS will be well-used to rehearsing the pros and cons of CE. In his year as Chairman of IAPS, 2007-8, Michael Spinney was eager to debate alternatives to CE and expressed a popular mood of frustration over an apparent stagnation of the Common Entrance system. Since 1896, prep school heads have questioned the overload of the prep school curriculum and how this and the pressures of an intense week's formal examinations in June can be relieved for the young. For some, it has become a Common Enemy. Yet no viable alter-native has emerged.

A number of prep and senior schools will not read this article because for those who have abandoned it, CE is anachronistic and irrelevant. Others will be eager to join the debate, recently re-invigorated by an active group of heads at IAPS Headquarters, and will be keen to maintain the stalwart CE tradition, the syllabus of which provides the very backbone to their curriculum; the examinations which prepare children for all future formal pen-and-paper exams, not to mention a structure to Years 7 and 8; the attached credibility and academic rigour of which constitutes credibility for parents and success in which affirms their status as excellent prep schools.

A closer analysis of CE reveals that it is a Complex Entity. Organised and managed by the Independent Schools Examinations Board (ISEB) which is made up of representatives of HMC and GSA (senior school associations) and IAPS schools and with examination papers set by teams of setters representing schools from these three organisations, it ought to be user-friendly. Certainly, that is in everyone's interests and the intention expressed by Jennie Williams who is the General Secretary of ISEB. She requests feedback from schools regularly and all letters sent to ISEB are discussed with the setters of papers who report back to the ISEB Board. When asked recently whether the content could be slimmed down for some subjects, she responded, 'ISEB would welcome this. It needs to be told what schools would like'. Those who believe that CE has become a fossilised relic of prep school days past will be interested to know that: 'The papers are constantly evolving'.

A number of schools have been bold in developing their own bespoke programmes of study, particularly for humanities subjects. Whilst this may be based loosely on the National Curriculum (upon which CE is based), the home-grown curriculum can reflect the needs of individual schools in their unique contexts. Prep schools like Sherborne Prep, which is run by Chairman of the IAPS Education Committee, Peter Tait, have developed modular and practical project-based syllabuses and The Beacon School, headed by Paul Brewster, is at the forefront of investigations into a proposed Prep School Bac which in time might also come under the ISEB banner.

IAPS supports the development of these innovative approaches and increasingly includes educational research on the IAPS website. Across 2011, there will be development of subject areas where subject teachers can collect ideas in reviewing their own subjects and IAPS aims to provide thought-provoking material to help debates of pedagogy, assessment systems and resources, sharing views on content and curriculum approach too. Contributions to the website are always welcome.

Such innovation is welcome in the prep school world where schools prize their freedom and seek new ways to inspire future generations. Learners can have the space to experience mindfulness, a range of creative and performing arts, leadership programmes and develop through a broad and meaningful curriculum. Dr Trevor Lee's paper, 'School Leadership and the Pedagogy of Well-Being' is replicated on the IAPS website and makes a strong case for "school leaders to revisit their mission, vision and values" in ensuring that the whole child is educated through positive relationships and attention to 'the skills of living well' quite apart from any knowledge-based curriculum.

There is widespread agreement in our sector that the curriculum should be structured to include a suite of developing skills and develop independent learning. The IAPS skills curriculum was published with that in mind. IAPS represents a diverse community of over 600 preparatory schools worldwide. These schools are in widely different situations with differing transition systems at age 11 and 13. The schools are situated in different structural and cultural contexts and feed a tremendous range of senior schools between them. Some are all-through schools, attached to senior schools, and others must prepare Year 8 pupils for a bewildering array of different entrance examinations, scholarship syllabuses and senior-school specific tests. It would be inappropriate to even attempt to dictate to these schools although advice, guidance, support and links with others are welcome and that is where IAPS has a role to play in the educational debate by connecting schools so that they can share ideas.

Michael Gove's recent Education White Paper demonstrates well the conflict between accountability on the one hand and freedom on the other. The White Paper promises to 'free schools from externally imposed burdens and give them greater confidence to set their own direction' ('The Importance of Teaching' White Paper, November 2010) by reducing bureaucracy and centralised control. However, at the same time, there will be a National Curriculum Review which will ultimately set out a 'model of the knowledge which every child should expect to master in core subjects at every key stage'. How can there be freedom when there is also constraint? Who has not taken issue with the detail of Simon Sharma's vision for the history syllabus?

And here is the rub. CE as a system provides summative examinations which are intended to be increasingly skills-based and, as Jennie Williams says, 'content-free'. It is her hope and ours that 'the examination should not dominate prep school life' and 'good teaching means teaching beyond an examination syllabus'.

Why is it that schools might be so sorely tempted to 'teach to the test'? I would put it down to market forces in two directions. Firstly, when senior schools are over-subscribed, they are forced to make a selection and the process is on the whole reliant on examinations which can measure, be marked and compare students expeditiously. It is a competitive environment. There is not space for everyone at certain schools. Secondly, parents have high aspirations and sometimes push for a school which the prep school might not feel is the best fit for a particular child. Enormous pressure will be placed on twelve to thirteen year-olds when they are crammed and drilled in order to make the grade. We urge parents to listen to the expert advice of prep school staff and ensure that your children are properly suited to the senior school of choice. Then, there will be no issue with CE and no need for cramming. Just as in the maintained sector, take away the 'high stakes' approach by ensuring that your child need not rise in a contrived league table of some kind but is already well on track if he or she continues with a balanced programme of work, rest and play, and you will find that school life can be appreciated for its richness of experience.

Whilst we are looking at practical solutions to ease pressures and reduce teaching to tests, schools might take note of the increasing number of prep schools opting for CE exams in the core subjects only. Humanities subjects are thereby freed-up and a good school will ensure that standards are maintained.

Our schools are proud of their independence and well-placed to select the best and most meaningful and effective curriculum, examination and assessment systems for their pupils. We celebrate diversity and the freedom to innovate through creative solutions and independent thought. As David Hanson says, 'freedom brings with it responsibility', in this case, the responsibility to ensure that children receive the best possible broad and balanced curriculum at prep school level to prepare them for the many challenges of the future. As Peter Tait says, 'prep schools should be more ambitious for their pupils in leading them beyond the curriculum to develop a proper sense of enquiry and the skills required for independent learning'.

Our schools are often excellent through a combination of tradition and innovation. There are many valid approaches to curriculum planning. What really matters is the quality of relationships between pupils and teachers in the classroom. Our children require developing skills of flexibility, discernment, resilience, independence of thought and other life skills which can be delivered within, around and outside lesson time. All good curriculum models, such as that described in the Rose Review, express this and discerning parents in prep schools will understand that there is more to prep school education than a set of Year 8 results.

An inspiring learning environment need not exclude CE for its Core Exams in Year 8: as our discussion forum on 13 September this year concluded, 'formal assessment has its place' and the CE syllabus can be incorporated in an exciting, relevant and outstanding school where extended projects, leadership development, communication skills and entrepreneurial activities also have a place in inspiring children. The key for schools which use CE is in ensuring a balanced approach and weighting of CE-related preparation, ensuring that in its application, CE does not become stultifying for teachers and, most unforgivably, for pupils.

Common Entrance might be considered Commonly Enervating by some but if it evolves and develops as it should and remains relevant then its future is assured. Ultimately, of course, the quality of teaching and learning matters more than the content of a syllabus or even a curriculum approach. Schools and parents can set a fine example to the young by maintaining a sense of proportion and perspective over exams. Even CE!

Julie Robinson is the Education and Training Director of IAPS and a Contributing Editor of Attain.
This article first appeared in the Spring 2011 issue of Attain.