Stalemate on science entitlement

In his last budget, Gordon Brown announced that all 14 year-olds gaining level 6 in the key stage 3 science test would be given an entitlement to study three separate sciences at GCSE. Like all budget announcements, there was no prior consultation and it appears that the government feels duty bound to implement it, regardless of practicalities.

Having heard nothing for over six months after the budget, ASCL wrote to the DfES asking for a report on progress which led to a meeting of ASCL officers with the senior civil servant in charge of implementation. They expressed ASCL's dismay and set out the practical issues in no uncertain terms.

The DfES has sent ASCL a copy of the "draft specification for a programme of support to enable maintained secondary schools to make GCSE separate sciences more widely available".
We responded with a further written response as to why this is going to be extremely difficult for schools. As soon as the situation is clarified, we will share the outcome with members.