Redesigned GCSEs for Wales, eliminating separate sciences and merging language and literature qualifications, have been approved.
Students will begin studying the new courses in 2025 as part of the schools’ revised curriculum.
Science organizations called some of the changes “harmful” and “disappointing.”
Qualifications Wales said the reformed GCSEs would “look and feel different”.
A head teacher said combining sciences ran the risk of subjects being “dumbed down”, and his students also shared some of their concerns with BBC Wales.
Current grade 7 students – ages 11 and 12 – will be the first to study the new GCSEs when they reach grade 10 in September 2025 and take exams in 2027.
A total of 26 new and updated GCSEs will be introduced, with changes to the content of qualifications and the way they are assessed, with less focus on exams.
Some of the new GCSEs will not be introduced until 2026.
The proposals were first presented in October 2021 and sparked debate on key issues.
Although there is “much to be welcomed,” Hugo Hutchison, principal at Monmouth Comprehensive School, said combining science carries with it the risk of “dumbing down” the subjects.
“It’s really important to look at the qualifications students are gaining in Wales to make sure they don’t stand still and move with the times,” he said.
“My concern is that a move away from subjects such as physics and biology and towards a merging of subjects will undermine the future of qualifications in Wales.”
The school is less than a mile from the border and up to a quarter of the 1,700 pupils are from England.
“We want to ensure that students studying in Wales are not disadvantaged by these changes,” said Hutchison.
“However detailed the proposals are, we need to ensure that the qualifications they present are up to the gold standard that students have in the rest of the UK.”
Following feedback, changes were made to the final plan, including adapting the new English, Welsh and Maths subjects to two GCSEs instead of one and a half as originally proposed.
Students are awarded two grades for these subjects as well as for the science GCSE.
At the same time, a less demanding single grade degree is offered in English, Welsh and Science.
However, science groups are unhappy with the plan after backing the original proposal for a GCSE science qualification.
“There is a risk that inequality will become entrenched in a two-tier system, fatally undermining an otherwise progressive and positive reform,” said the Institute of Physics, and “damaging the Welsh economy”.
The Royal Society of Chemistry called it a “missed opportunity”.
“With the current STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills crisis, the last thing Wales needs is to shrink the future talent pool by continuing to exclude people with an unfair two-cycle science education,” it said .
Qualifications Wales said the reforms were about turning young people into “well-rounded, competent and confident young people who are ready to succeed in their future lives”.
Emyr George, director for qualifications policy and reform, said the changes had been discussed with universities and colleges across Wales and the UK.
“They are very supportive of the approach we have taken,” he said.
He said there was assurance that “they can prepare to make offers to learners as they move through the system, with a really good understanding of what qualifications the learners will gain as they move through the new curriculum”.
At Monmouth Comprehensive School, 7th graders Faith and Tomos, 12, will be among the first to adopt the new GCSE design, but for now they are feeling distanced.
“We still have a long way to go,” he said Believe, who likes theatre, music and art.
But tomos feels a bit nervous because there will be a lot of revisions.
Albert10th grader, who has just taken some GCSE exams, said he enjoyed the chance to specialize but felt there was room for “change”.
The new GCSEs will have less emphasis on exams in some subjects and more assessment throughout the course.
“I really like exams because they’re a good knowledge focus – you know what you’re studying for… but I know some people who have struggled with exams,” he said.
cadeyThe 17-year-old, who studies science at A-level, said she’s not convinced that combining science into one degree is the right approach.
“They are well separated because they are separate entities. I have a feeling that if they were all mixed at GCSE, you would struggle to get the A-levels,” she added.
Excessive disparity between qualifications in England and Wales was a concern Alex17
He said it is important that the system “allows universities in particular to understand students’ knowledge and understanding in specific areas”.
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