New GCSEs for Wales will place less emphasis on exams and aim to increase the use of digital technology, the watchdog said.
Teachers, students, parents and employers are invited to give their opinion on the latest plans for delivering degrees from 2025 onwards.
Qualifications Wales are also asking for feedback on names for a number of new subjects.
These include GCSE the sciences and GCSE core Cymraeg.
The reforms include controversial plans to merge language and literature into a single GCSE, and combine individual science subjects into one qualification.
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When these plans were released last year there were concerns about “dumbing down” but Qualifications Wales have argued it will expand student learning.
The changes align with the new curriculum for Wales, which was officially rolled out in primary schools and around half of secondary schools in September, marking the start of rollout for all three to 16 year olds.
The consultation looks at the content of qualifications and how they are assessed, with the aim of giving schools more flexibility in choosing the areas they cover and how they assess students.
Overall, there is less emphasis on traditional exams, the regulator said.
In the GCSEs for New English Language and Literature and Cymraeg Language and Literature, 60% are to be assessed through examinations, compared to the current 80%.
A quarter of the science GCSE will be practical work, but the new math GCSE will still be 100% exam-based, although these could be phased throughout the course.
A-level student Jess from Blaenau Gwent said she felt her GCSEs last year were more about “how fast you can write and how much you can remember, rather than actually showing ability”.
“If the exam process had been adjusted and not been so content-heavy over such a long course it might have been a little better,” she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.
Sarah Parry, Headteacher at Llanishen High School in Cardiff, said it was “absolutely important” that GCSEs change to meet the needs of young people and offer a broad and balanced curriculum.
“We need a balanced mix of assessment methods, with less emphasis on exams,” she said.
“If Covid has taught us anything in terms of scoring, it’s not to put all your eggs in one basket. If we rely solely on the exams at the end of year 11, we create a single point of failure.”
Digital assessments are already used in some subjects, but the proposals suggest that screen assessments could be used in more GCSEs.
However, the consultation is asking for feedback on how practical this would be – particularly to ensure there are enough devices for everyone.
Pryderi ap Rhisiart, Managing Director of M-SParc, a science park on Anglesey, believes the new curriculum of Wales is exciting and requires a rethink of GCSEs.
“But at the same time, employers and other people will be looking for a way to measure how our students and young people are doing,” he said.
“It presents us with a tremendous economic opportunity if we can close the skills gap.
“We need the new curriculum to develop our young people, to apply these skills, to apply these skills and to connect them to economic opportunities.”
The Qualifications Guardian solicits opinions on the content of 26 GCSEs, including Food and Nutrition, Health and Sport, Engineering, and Film and Digital Media.
Some reforms have been controversial, including the abolition of separate GCSEs in physics, biology and chemistry in favor of a new qualification equivalent to two GCSEs – called GCSE the Sciences.
The consultation is also asking for feedback on GCSE Core Cymraeg – the new Welsh qualification for English secondary schools which will replace Welsh as a second language.
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