THE announcement this week of the PISA tests shines a stark light on our schools.

The Programme for International Student Assessment ranks all countries on their students’ achievements. In England, we are ranked 25th for maths, 23rd for reading and 18th for science.

The test was undertaken in November and December last year of 15-year-olds. They occur every three years and since 2006 we have stayed the same for maths, dropped from 17th for reading and dropped from 14th for science.

Over the same period, however, our GCSE A* and As went from 19.7% to 22.4%, whilst A* to Cs went from 62.4% to 69.4%.

There has been endless talk about grade inflation, but this international comparison against our own standards proves something has gone wrong. Indeed, Durham University earlier this year questioned not whether grade inflation had taken place, but how much had taken place.

Inevitably, the politics takes over. Labour’s shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt – himself a part time, but unqualified, teacher – accused the sinking standards on the coalition education reforms.

But when asked if Hunt had a point, Andreas Schleicher, the OECD’s Deputy Director for Education and Skills, could not have been clearer. “You could not possibly judge [the reforms] on these results. You are moving from idea to implementation. 2015 would be the earliest.”

What is clear is that we cannot sit idly by watching the world get better at education whilst we stand still. I visit many schools and I have yet to find one where I can legitimately accuse the staff of not doing their best by the students.

Teachers exude a sense of enthusiasm and I am convinced this has not been laid on purely for the benefit of the local MP. Staff want to do their best for the kids they are educating. So what is going wrong?

The programme of education reform is in the early stages. It is about empowering headteachers to make decisions about teacher outcomes; about setting up new schools and academies that give parents and pupils choice; and about ensuring grade inflation comes to an end (this year was the first year grades did not get better overall since 1988).

As we are genuinely in a global competition, we need to be winning the education challenge and empowering our future to take on, and win, the global race.

CONTACT YOUR MP

  • Email: mark.garnier.mp@ parliament.uk
  • Telephone: 020 7219 7198 or 01562 746771.
  • Write: 9a Lower Mill Street, Kidderminster, DY11 6UU, or House of Commons, Westminster, London