Reforms to key stage 3 risk falling flat because of a lack of consensus over what the phase is actually for, a research report concludes.
KS3 “lacks a clear and shared purpose of its own”, according to the report written by PF Global calledEducation’s Overlooked Middle Child.
Policy research agency PF Global, formerly known as Public First,says that KS3 is “too often treated as a dumping ground for early GCSE preparation”.
The report comes after the government set up a Key Stage 3 Alliance, co-chaired by Becks Boomer-Clark, chief executive of Lift Schools, and Dame Lesley Powell, chief executive of the North East Learning Trust, aimed at building an evidence base for what works in Years 7-9.
Today’s report says that the renewed national focus on KS3 is an opportunity to create ashared framework and purpose for this phase of schooling.
Without this, there is a risk that the alliance - as well asreforms being made to curriculum, assessment and enrichment - will generate ”significant activity without substantially improving pupils’ experiences of Years 7 to 9”, it warns.
The reportwas commissioned by the International Baccalaureate and overseen bya group of leaders who have formed the Early Secondary Advisory Group. They includeJennese Alozie, CEO of University of Chichester Academy Trust;David Watson, CEO of Sherborne Area Schools’ Trust;Liz Robinson, director of education transformation at Oasis Community Learning;Lee Wilson, CEO ofOutwood Grange Academies Trust; andEmily Verow, CEO ofThree Spires Trust.
Most teachers ‘want changes to KS3’
The report contains findings from an unweighted survey of nearly 600 secondary teachers, just 2 per cent of whom said they were happy with the current approach to KS3.
Some 14 per cent of respondents indicated that the phase should have its “own distinct curriculum” separate from GCSE preparation.
More than a quarter of the teachers polled said Years 7-9 should be more focused on skills and wider development, while the majority (57 per cent) called for a “clearer identity” in KS3 while keeping exam preparation as a central focus.
Public First also asked more than 800 teachers about the resources provided to Years 7-9 in their school compared with the exam years.
Forty per cent said less teaching time and attention from school leadership was provided to KS3, against just 19 per cent who said it received more.
And 30 per cent of teachers indicated that KS3 received less funding and resources in schools, compared with just 17 per cent who said it received more. Nearly half of respondents indicated KS3 received “about the same” as the exam years.
More than half of respondents said that teaching in KS3 was “less desirable” than in the exam years, compared with just 8 per cent who preferred it.
The government, schools and trusts should “agree what every pupil should gain from Years 7-9” and “use that to guide decisions about teaching, staffing and assessment”, the report recommends.
Ed Dorrell, partner at PF Global, said that “too little has changed” 11 years after Ofsted’s, which foundthat KS3 was not a “high priority” for many secondary leaders in timetabling, assessment and progress monitoring.
Writing for Vlogearlier this year, Ms Boomer-Clark said that KS3 lacks “a clear identity and purpose”, describing it as a “phase rich with opportunity but lacking the national focus it deserves”.
Speaking today, she said there is a “momentum for change” in the early years of secondary education, and that the research will contribute to the evidence base needed to “turn that momentum into practical action”.
