Is it time to ditch the notion of ‘core subjects’?

Abstract

Wales is in the middle of a fundamental reform of its curriculum and consequent assessment design. There is a welcome broadening of the range of subjects offered at levels 1 and 2, yet the notion that some subjects are more important than others persists. Furthermore, the ‘core’ subjects of language, mathematics and science are seeing the biggest changes: English language and literature will be merged; Welsh language and literature will be merged; physics, chemistry and biology will be merged; and separate mathematics qualifications (mathematics and numeracy) will be combined. The tension between the demands of industry on the one hand and the needs of learners on the other often means that schools are caught in the middle, trying to do the best for their individual learners while being held accountable for attainment data decided by Government. Yet in a system created for externally decided grade boundaries and standardised scores in which a certain proportion of ‘failure’ is ‘baked in’ by the statistics, how can we ensure the flourishing of all our children, even those who fall below one standard deviation from the mean? How much of an influence can the idea be that the inherent benefit to an individual is sufficient justification for an education without the need to pander to the requirements of a capitalist influence on policymakers? Furthermore, can GCSE English (or Welsh) be used as a reliable proxy for literacy? This article imagines the outcomes for learners, schools and employment if the power of the notion of core subjects were drained from metrics such as Attainment 8/Capped 9 and any best grades were counted instead.