Why do you think standards have been watered down in the education system?

Posted by ShockingHair63@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 29 comments

This has taken place over a long time. The maths, English and science courses my children studied were less advanced that those I took when I went to school, and looking further back, my grandfather studied calculus in order to get IN to grammar school. It's not just academics either. I taught PE, and it would've been impossible getting most of today's students to do the fast-paced intensive gymnastics routines we sometimes had them doing in the 80s for example. And then there's behaviour. The disruption that goes on in some schools nowadays would've been unheard of a few decades ago. It's simply about enforcing the rules, teachers demanding respect as professionals, and parents supporting them. Clearly, the education system caters for more abilities so more can study, but does that have to come at the expense of supporting the best and brightest? Why do you think we've allowed this watering down of standards?

29 Comments

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Smooth-Purchase1175@reddit

I think the system needs a complete overhaul.

D0wnInAlbion@reddit

Gove's curriculum is much more rigorous than the one he inherited and standards at GCSE and A Level are much higher than when millennials sat the old syllabus exams. On the other hand, standards at university have definitely dropped particularly at post grad level. Revenue has become more important than standards.

CRJF@reddit

I don't honestly feel qualified to comment on the current strength of educational rigour and I'm always surprised to hear so many British people do. To be taken seriously on this subject I'd expect someone to have taught Maths/physics/science for at least 25 years and mostly when those people do speak on the subject they say it's the other way around to how you've phrased it.

TSC-99@reddit

You’re totally wrong. They do so much more than before! Every year the difficulty increases. Teacher.

TheCrunker@reddit

As you’re a teacher, I have a question. Why do younger people seem so much more incompetent (for lack of a better word) than before? I’m not talking about specialist knowledge or intelligence. I’m talking about basic life skills. In my workplace, when we hire new people, I’m shocked at how many younger people (teenagers and early twenties) lack basic problem solving skills. They lack initiative. Some of them flat out refuse to make phone calls or hold meetings with other people (they don’t last long). This isn’t an intelligence or knowledge thing (they’re very bright people), and it’s certainly not a pop at teachers. Just curious if you had any insight on that.

I agree. I think social media and everything being online has a lot to do with it. They don’t have to think. A Google search gives them everything. That or AI 🤣

AbbreviationsCold161@reddit

Don't think the OP is taking a pop at teachers - hopefully you're not an English teacher 😬😄 Thay aside... the UK still has one of the highest standards of teaching in the world and remains a leading light in all things Education. Many, many countries face similar social problems that play through to behaviour in schools, or failing parental support with an unrealistic expectation on the teaching profession. This is a greater issue and more impactful than perhaps anything else in the education system.

I see no typos?

TransientSpark23@reddit

Are you trying to make teachers look bad here?

No. Why?

Because, at a time when nobody was questioning the quality of teachers, you misunderstood what you were replying too, then failed to spot where you went wrong.

Because, at a time when nobody was questioning the quality of teachers, you came in with a big miscomprehension followed by a strange assumption.

Evening-Web-3038@reddit

It is a bit clunky... Every year the difficulty increases. Teacher. If it’s that simple, you try it. \- Why have you given "Teacher" it's own sentence? I can't even figure out what you meant tbh. So sick of people thinking teachers have it easy. Try it. Go on. \- Why so many full-stops? Can't you use commas or semicolons?

Also, Google ‘implied subjects’.

I can use colon: I’ve been educated to a high standard. Semicolons are good; colons are better. Commas, often but not always, are used to separate clauses and items in a list. We’re on fucking Reddit. I’m not trying to pass my SATs - I’m having a rant. Ooooh, apostrophe for contraction and a dash.

😬 yeah...wasn't a case of typos, rather English comprehension. The OP was saying about education standards and not about teachers having it easy or not trying, which is how you seem to have interpreted their comments.

They said ‘it’s simply about teachers demanding respect’. Simply. There’s no simple about it.

ShockingHair63@reddit (OP)

Well you have partially quoted me there! I was until recently a teacher myself so I'm not having a go at teachers! I think it's a combination of factors :)

ItsaGEO1994@reddit

Education was far better under the conservatives than under Blair.

Valuable-Wallaby-167@reddit

>my grandfather studied calculus in order to get IN to grammar school. When you're only bothering to teach about 20% of the population properly, you can do that. I'd say while the standard is lower than what the grammar school pupils got it's significantly higher than what the secondary modern pupils were getting. Many of the issues that are present now have always been there it's just it was happening in the schools that nobody was paying attention to anyway. Not to mention neither you or your grandad needed decent ICT skills. That's a new large curriculum area that needs to be fitted in somehow that you didn't have to deal with. Saying standards have been watered down is a massive oversimplification, there are definite concerns about the modern education system but there were a lot of concerns about previous systems as well. There are areas where we are weaker, I don't think kids are being taught core maths skills well enough for example because too much pressure is on doing GCSEs rather than making sure they have the skills needed for day to day life. However, there are areas where we are stronger, the literacy rate is higher than when your grandfather was at school for example.

Fellowes321@reddit

There are many examples of “tough” questions from exams in the past. Kids can’t do them now. They couldn’t do them then either. Calculus for the 11+? Nonsense. Never happened.

TheDettiEskimo@reddit

Yeah my sister is passed as well with a far lower threshold. Also, primary teachers seem to have given up.

IDKBear25@reddit

Because students today are taught to be soft.

Life_Put1070@reddit

Because in your father's day it didn't matter a jot if children didn't pick up that knowledge because they would be shuffled through a secondary modern and out into employment that doesn't need much beyond basic writing and arithmetic. That employment has all but vanished now. The hordes of genuinely entry level employment has evaporated as it has been automated away. So kids now need actual qualifications to get a job. They need at least GCSE English and maths for most things. 50 years ago exams could be tough because they were trying to sieve. Now they're perhaps not so tough because not getting those qualifications relegates you to minimum wage employment with impossiblility of moving up at all. You can't get an apprenticeship without GCSE English and Maths these days. These are basic certificates of competence. That is fine, it's not a problem, but that means they can't be so tough

Witty-Quantity-9691@reddit

Lots of countries have far more rigorous curriculums. Not only that A-levels are experiencing grade inflation, where the top grades are being achieved by a far greater percentage of people which means that triple A or A\* doesn't mean that much anymore. The International Baccalaureate is an example of an education every kid in Britain should be getting. A far broader range of subjects and provides more a more granular grading system where we can differentiate between top-top students and the kinda good students because there are more grade points (I think GCSEs moving to 9 points was a good thing).

New_Expectations5808@reddit

No it hasn't.

Martinonfire@reddit

Because we seem to be wanting equality of outcome rather than equality of opportunity.

Annual-Ad-7780@reddit

Nope. On the contrary it's becoming harder to pass exams, that's why every year, the government's crying about less kids getting good grades.

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