Michael Gove's announcement yesterday that his A-levels shakeup will cap the number of top A* grades was no big surprise. More baffling, though, is the idea of a national pupil ranking for exam results, placing every candidate on a national A-level leaderboard.
What a lovely message to send to young people. As if getting your A-levels and university place wasn't fraught enough: let's make the race between you and your peers more crazily competitive!
In his speech to Ofqual, the education secretary said a league table ranking students individually could help universities to select the brightest pupils. It would indicate which star students had come top in each subject across the country – and which other pupils had come last. Great if you're in the top 100; less thrilling if you're floundering at number 89,462.
To give Gove his due, he did concede it might be a step too far. As the Guardian's Jeevan Vasagar reports:
Gove said it could be a "completely wrongheaded" idea. "But I put it out there explicitly for debate."
He described visiting Burlington Danes academy, in west London, which publishes rankings for students at the end of each term. "When I asked the headteacher, Sally Coates, if this wasn't a bit – please excuse my phrase – 'hardcore', and had it resulted in a revolt amongst students and parents, she looked at me and said: 'Actually, it's the single most popular thing that I've done.' Parents love it, because they're given information that they'd previously been denied."
The only thing worse than a generation of competitive 18-year-olds is probably their competitive parents. At least the pressure group Parents Outloud have already stated their opposition to the idea, on the grounds it would not be particularly nice for the kids. And @warwickmansell tweets that Gove's ideas "look a bit gimmicky". Agreed.
More education news from the Guardian
• Private shools win the right to ignore Charity Commission guidance on how they show their public benefit.
• Academy head Sir Michael Wilshaw, credited with transforming a failing school in east London into the high-achieving Mossbourne Academy, is named new Ofsted chief.
• Education cuts to services like the ethnic minority achievement grant will hit the most vulnerable hardest, writes former teacher Emma Jones.
• There is no "slam-dunk" case, as Michael Gove says, for teaching foreign languages to five-year-olds, and schools lack the resources for these lessons, write lecturers Fiona Copland and Sue Garton.
• A primary school governing body has apologised to parents after a message on Facebook, apparently posted by a teacher, described local people as inbred.
• Teenagers need to learn about sex, so there should be no option to opt out of personal, social and health education classes, writes Libby Brooks.
Education news from around the web
• Private schools are working on plans to sponsor failing state primary schools, reports the TES, while state boarding school plans receive backing from Eton, reports the Independent.
• Abolition of the EMA has had a mixed effect on enrolment levels in further education, the TES reports.
• Children taught to read aged seven still learn at the same pace as four-year olds, finds a new study. Researchers at the University of Warwick compared literacy teaching in Steiner schools with standard education, publishing the results in the British Journal of Educational Psychology.
From the Guardian professional networks
• Student engagement is one of this year's buzzwords. But what exactly does it mean? And how do universities do it well? Join the higher education network's live chat today from 12 until 2pm.
• On the teacher network, how to tackle the thorny issue of global economics in the classroom, with free teaching resources.
Education seminars from Guardian Professional
The Guardian Teacher Network runs training sessions for teachers throughout the year in Yorkshire and London. Upcoming courses include:
Is your school thinking of becoming an academy?
This seminar will provide an independent view of the advantages and disadvantages of converting to academy status. It will look at the process of conversion, the implications of academy status, and the support and funding available. November 30, in London. February 21, 2012 in Yorkshire
Protecting young people in a digital age
Led by school digital safety experts, this one-day course will provide safeguarding policy and Ofsted criteria updates, as well as looking at social media and offering practical advice to help your school develop its digital safety policies. February 1, 2012 in London. February 8, 2012 in Yorkshire.
For a full list visit the Guardian Teacher Network
Teachers seminars from the Guardian Education Centre
Reading for pleasure – bringing classics to life
This half-day conference for secondary school teachers will explore the use and teaching of classic books from Dickens and beyond. Keynote speakers will be Simon Callow, actor and Dickens enthusiast and Judy Golding, daughter of William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies.
20 October, London
Insight into digital journalism
Spend a day at the Guardian and find out how an international news media organisation works. The seminar will focus on aspects of digital journalism including writing and editing for a news website, the relationship between print and web journalism, live blogging, the use of social media, podcasting and video production.
2 November, Kings Place, London
Find us on the Guardian website
All today's EducationGuardian stories
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
Guardian Teacher Network on Twitter
Guardian Education Centre on Twitter
EducationGuardian resources
The Guardian University Guide 2011
The Guardian Postgraduate Guide 2011
The world's top 100 universities
Updating table of university fee announcements for 2012
From Guardian Professional
The Higher Education Network for university professionals
Free online classroom resources on the Teacher Network
More about Cribsheet
Sign up to get Cribsheet as a daily email
Subscribe to get Cribsheet as an RSS feed
Interested in social policy too? Sign up for Society Daily
