The end of GCSE Learning for life and work…

Something which may have slipped under people’s radars recently is the announcement by the Northern Ireland exams board, CCEA, that a number of subjects are to be discontinued. German, Economics and Engineering are to be scrapped along with Leisure Travel and Tourism, Learning for Life and Work and Contemporary Crafts.

CCEA said it had made the decision based on factors such as “candidate entry patterns and the long-term sustainability of these subjects”. Candidate entry patterns and long-term sustainability could well be a justification for dropping all but one of these subjects : Learning for Life and Work (LLW)

The thing about LLW is that it is a compulsory subject at both KS3 and KS4 and I believe that it is planned to be retained under the new 2028 curriculum. So its long term sustainability is guaranteed. As for entry patterns, these are the number of entries for 2025 :

• Contemporary Crafts – 133
• Leisure, Travel and Tourism – 172
• Engineering and Manufacturing – 206
• Economics – 170
• German – 587
• Learning for Life and Work – 3,378. This number of entries is higher than for subjects such as Art & Design, Agriculture and Land Use, Construction, Statistics, Health & Social Care, Drama and French.

IS LLW IMPORTANT?

Judge for yourself – LLW has four strands :

– EMPLOYABILITY –  Work in the Local and Global Economy, Career Management, Enterprise and Entrepreneurship.
– HOME ECONOMICS – Healthy Eating, Home and Family Life, Independent Living.
– LOCAL AND GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP – Diversity and Inclusion, Human Rights and Social Responsibility, Equality and Social Justice, Democracy and Active Participation.
– PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT – Self-Awareness, Personal Health, Relationships.

Surely all of this is the kind of stuff which which people have been demanding from schools in an era of employment issues, health issues, targetted erosion of democracy/truth/equality and worrying suicide rates.

Diversity and Inclusion, Human Rights and Social Responsibility, Equality and Social Justice, Democracy and Active Participation – is this all deemed too politically WOKE by some stakeholders?

LLW HAS BEEN CRITICISED

A common criticism is that it is a “mickey mouse” subject in schools, not taken seriously. Surely the solution is to make it a compulsory GCSE if it has to be taught anyway. LLW is already a compulsory GCSE in some schools.

So what is the logic in abandoning this GCSE which is more popular than some others and which promotes the kind of knowledge, understanding and values which most people want more of?

Slogger

Slogger is a North Antrim retiree and latecomer to political discourse.