Mary Morrell
Chair, Policy Committee

https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.90.9

Policy makes a difference

The European Directive 2010/63 on the ‘Protection of Animals in Scientific Experimentation’ came into force on 1 January 2013. This is of direct relevance to Members of The Society, and as such the Policy Team would like to thank all our Members who responded to our call to write to your MP at the end of 2012.

I am pleased to let you know that we had an amazing response with over 70 MPs being contacted, some more than once! It was interesting to see which MPs responded. The legislation was debated in the House of Commons on 3 December 2012 and was passed without a hitch. This was better than we hoped for and The Physiological Society’s contribution was openly acknowledged by Dr Julian Huppert (Cambridge; Liberal Democrat), which goes to show we can make a difference – one letter at a time.

If you would like to engage with your MP further as part of our MP engagement scheme, please visit our website (www.physoc.org/mp-engagement-scheme). We believe it is crucial to engage with policy-makers to help inform them about the realities of animal research.

Watch this space for the next Policy Committee project!

Education policy update

The voice of physiology in education reforms

Following the UK Government’s proposals to reform the National Curriculum in England alongside GCSEs and A-levels, The Society’s Education and Outreach Committee has been working to ensure that physiology is represented accurately, and that the new qualifications accurately assess the skills important for progression in physiology beyond school.

In this, The Society is collaborating with SCORE (Science Community Repre-senting Education) and the Science Council. The following is a brief outline of The Society’s recent engagement in these policy areas.

National Curriculum review

The Society plans to continue inputting into the National Curriculum review, primarily through SCORE, wherever possible. At the time of writing, the draft Key Stage 3 (age 11-14) programme of study for science had just been released by the Department for Education (DfE) for consultation, and announcements were expected regarding the draft Key Stage 4 (age 14-16) science programme of study.

A-level reform

In June 2012, Ofqual (the regulator of qualifications, exams in England) launched a consultation on proposals for the reform of A-levels, which included changes to qualification structure, resit rules and the role of higher education institutions in the development of new A-levels. The Society fed into joint responses to this consultation by SCORE and the Science Council.

Ofqual published its findings in November 2012, announcing the removal of January exams for AS and A-levels from September 2013. Further key areas of change were announced by the Secretary of State for Education in a letter to Ofqual in January 2013. These included a move to a linear A-level with all assessment at the end of two years, retaining the AS level but as a standalone qualification, and pla ns to establish an advisory body – created by the Russell Group – to provide advice to Ofqual on the content and assessment of A-levels.

The Society is keen to ensure that this advisory body reflects the diversity of institutions across the HE sector and will continue to input into these reforms, which are due to be implemented for first teaching in September 2015.

Key Stage 4 (GCSE) reform

In September 2012, the DfE released a consultation, which outlined proposals to replace the current GCSEs with English Baccalaureate Certificates (EBCs) and introduce a franchise system whereby only one awarding organisation (AO) would be awarded with a contract to offer qualifications in a particular EBC subject for five years. The Society contributed to a joint response to this consultation with SCORE.

After the consultation closed, the Secretary of State for Education announced that these plans would be abandoned in favour of reforming the existing GCSEs as set out in the consultation document: these include a move to linear qualifications with exams taken at the end of two years and more problem-solving questions in science assessments.

Further to this, The Society has been inputting into a set of guidelines that SCORE is producing for AOs, Ofqual and the DfE, which express clearly what the characteristics of a science Key Stage 4 qualification should be. The aim of the guidelines will be to inform the development of these qualifications transparently and fairly across all parties. They will be made publicly available in February 2013.

The Society will continue feeding into the development of the new Key Stage 4 science qualifications as and when further announcements are made.

If you’d like to get involved with any of this education policy work, we’d be delighted to hear from you at education@physoc.org.