The abandonment of the Ebacc

The abandonment of the Ebacc plan is to be welcomed – the changes were going to be too fast and were too ill-considered. Perhaps Michael Gove's reputation as the Teflon Minister will be tarnished – in his own mind, even – and if so, that will be a good thing, as there are more than a few reforms underway which would benefit from less haste and more thinking.

But... let's not be blinded to the problems of the curriculum and how it should be assessed and examined. There are no easy answers, and on the whole my views have not changed for 40 years – we need a broad curriculum that emphasises skills as much as knowledge, being scientific as much as knowing about science, and which engages young people. And the assessment and examination system should emphasise achievement not failure.

It's always been a scandal that we select our very best achievers at each stage and then fail a proportion at the next stage. Education should be about success not failure.


John Freeman CBE is a former director of children's services and is now a freelance consultant