UK government to launch a revamped Computer Science GCSE in 2016
After realising that lessons on Microsoft Office aren't particularly useful for schoolchildren, the UK government has started doubling down on coding. After launching a new computing curriculum in September, the Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to introduce a new Computer Science GCSE by 2016, focused on writing code, designing applications and exploring some of the ethical and legal issues that surround new technology.
The folks at 10 Downing Street are pitching the qualification as a new "national standard," which means it'll likely supplant the current swathe of computer science GCSEs offered by awarding bodies such as AQA, Edexcel and WJEC. Once the government outlines what they want from the new certificate, possibly through a curriculum update, the awarding bodies will then be able to use it as a framework to adapt or create new syllabuses.
To be clear, the new national curriculum is a bit of an experiment. While teachers were informed of the change in advance, it's still difficult to predict how it'll be received inside the classroom. Students will have to wait a couple of years for the new GCSE, but what's already been implemented should teach them how the technology in their lives really works.
[Image credit: David Gilmour, Flickr]
