More wailing, and gnashing of journalistic teeth, at falling standards amongst our pitiful youth.

This time it’s occasioned by a study from Nuffield, leaked to, quoted in and bemoaned by the media at some length last week.    “Universities are dismayed by the poor levels of literacy and numeracy among school leavers who arrive in higher education expecting to be "spoon-fed", according to a new study”, says the Guardian’s regular writer, Donald MacLeod.

Similarly, “tutors in despair at illiterate freshers” says THES in its lead story, reporting that admissions tutors lamented “new students lack of independent thought, ‘fear of numbers’, expectations to be ‘told the answers’”, and a general “overemphasis on exam success and league tables [leading] to students starting university suffering from ‘assessment burnout’ and expecting to be spoon-fed.”

It’s all “an appalling indictment” says the characteristically reticent Daily Mail; a “huge embarrassment for ministers”.

Perhaps, though I doubt they embarrass that easily.    Yes, the report is critical.    But it says a lot more than the headline writers acknowledge.    In fact, it’s one of the best reports I’ve read in a long time, with lessons not just for schools, but for education and training as a whole.

It’s not perfect.    The focus on university admissions makes parts of it of only tangential relevance to us.    The evidence base is anecdotal, the results of focus group discussions.    But there’s a lot of good stuff here.

For example: “The modular nature of 14-19 qualifications was a matter of concern across almost all institutions and was viewed as causing a number of problems, i ncluding overassessment, compartmentalised learning, a lack of incremental learning, a poorly developed overview of subjects and an inability to connect discrete areas of knowledge.”

Or again: “Coursework at GCSE and beyond was regarded with ambivalence.    While the purposes and aims were viewed positively, the reality was viewed with a degree of suspicion, in terms of its usefulness in indicating attainment, developing independent learning skills and providing the opportunity for young people to demonstrate innovative thinking.”

Sources:    Guardian report
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THES 10 February, pp1, 9
Daily Mail