It’s now been two weeks since it became known that ICT would not be reformed at GCSE or A level from 2017. Like many teachers across the country who feel there is a place for ICT in a modern academic curriculum, I have taken to Twitter to raise awareness of #ictgone and keep tabs on developments. In no particular order, here are a few thoughts…

The petition gains momentum. Over 6000 people have signed the petition so far. This is good progress, but 10,000 signatures are required to trigger a response from the Government. The momentum must be maintained.

Music Technology is in, but Information Technology is out. Music Tech, Dance, Film Studies and Media Studies have been allowed to move forward in the consultation process. Only ICT (or Information Technology as it would have been called) was singled out by the DfE.

DfE regards ICT as a toxic brand. Harsh perhaps, but sadly true. It’s generally accepted that ICT wasn’t perfect and change was needed; the introduction of Computing at Key Stage 3 has injected life into the subject. It’s now clear that the DfE (and others) have besmirched ICT at will – with the intention to discredit the subject altogether. It will exist as a vocational qualification but will no longer be regarded as an ‘academic’ subject. It’s the educational equivalent of being relegated from the football league with the path to promotion being permanently blocked.

The numbers don’t lie. In 2015, the number of entries for GCSE Computer Science has increased to 35,414 (up by 110%) while entries for GCSE ICT increased to 111,934 (up by 15%).  There is enough demand for both ICT and Computer Science and the numbers back it up.

Most exam boards have given up. Questions have been asked about the main exam boards and their role, but they now appear to have simply accepted the situation – with one exception…

IGCSE ICT and International A level. At the time of writing Cambridge International Examinations are still planning to offer IGCSE ICT and, new from 2017, International A level ICT.

Should we count our blessings? It could have been worse, according to this blog from BCS. Interestingly, they run the ECDL in the UK…

ECDL Foundation advocate a holistic approach. In a blog, the Foundation argue that focusing on coding alone could harm other aspects of computer science and digital literacy education. Given the connection between ECDL and BCS, it is interesting to note the differences between them.

I am an eternal optimist but I haven’t been sticking my head in the sand either. I have been looking into various Computer Science courses, teaching resources and starting to brush up on Python. Whatever happens, I’m ready to tackle it head on.

Don’t let apathy win the day.  Sign the petition and drum up as much support as possible. There are only a couple of weeks left to make our voices heard.

Thank you.

BRC