11 Plus Exams Forum

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Others qualifications seems to go! GCSE creative writing is soon to go ...

Could we try to collectively make a list so that we all can get a wide picture of the phenomenon?

Maybe you could edit your title to start with ICT? It reads as though all GCSEs & A levels are to be scrapped! Or maybe it's just me?

ICT is an important subject not everyone has the mathematical/logical mind to handle computer science(which is a completely different beast to ICT) although every child should have the opportunity to learn coding although most will not choose to pursue it .

ICT skills are used in every conceivable field/discipline and to get a half decent job such skills are essential.

Catseye you're right that ICT skills are important, however the skills that are needed for many jobs (managing files, data, spreadsheets etc) easily overlap with other subjects. I think that ICT should be evident across many subjects. I do think there needs to be a much bigger emphasis on coding in this country, this could run along side the current ICT or replace it. It's an area that is lacking in many schools.

We've just had to choose between two schools for our daughter and this was one area I asked about. One school teaches coding and has a coding club, the other does the bare minimum. There are so many resources available for coding and I think that even those without a logical/mathematical mind should be able to acquire a basic knowledge. It's a massive area of development within industry not just in software jobs, but across many areas. When looking around grammar schools in recent years I've always asked about STEM subjects, I've been surprised that in two of the most highly regarded schools locally I was told that they didn't really promote that sort of thing, and most children who were talented in science tended to aim for medicine! They are missing a trick here I think!

Hi Red Velvet - I suspect you might be talking about the coding club at Ribston -I have to say I have been hugely impressed with it so far -my dd has loved it since she started and the teachers are fantastic -I went along to the recent open evening to see what my dd had been up to to and the teacher even invited me to come along if I wanted to. I decided not to as I want it to be dd's thing and me being there cramp her style I find it a bit of a shame that there are only 6 taking the computing GCSE this year but it is a relatively new subject and perhaps if dd does well in it it will help her stand out. I guess more might be encouraged as time goes on and especially if the ICT GCSE does go.

Funny this should come up this weekend. My DH is an accountant and has started a new job with a completely new system and his comment this weekend. "You don't just need to be good at maths these days to be an accountant you need to be an IT expert too"!!!

That's the one DC17C! It sounds great.

My husband has been writing code for years and I always saw it as a rather odd way to spend your work day.

Then I spoke to someone who'd graduated with a biochem degree (much more my thing!) and then taught herself to code. She's now hugely in demand for modelling scientific data. It's certainly the way the way things are going.

R-V I completely agree with you

We are in the midst of paradigm shift with the advent of AI and Robotics, most don't realise it yet! But the Geeks will inherit the earth.

The rest of us will have to make do with the crumbs off their table .

Computer Scientists will be the new masters of the universe turning the tables on the money exchangers (aka bankers)-thus says my son.

It pleases me greatly that your daughter is into computing-good for her

Sorry about the hyperbolic language -got a bit carried away

RedVelvet wrote:That's the one DC17C! It sounds great.

My husband has been writing code for years and I always saw it as a rather odd way to spend your work day.

Then I spoke to someone who'd graduated with a biochem degree (much more my thing!) and then taught herself to code. She's now hugely in demand for modelling scientific data. It's certainly the way the way things are going.

Absolutely - we also had a visited Renishaw PLC recently and their Higher level apprencticeships in computing look fantastic and the work they are doing in 3d modelling, 3D printing and robotics used in all sorts of things including dentistry, joint prostheses and neuro -surgery looks amazing.

Catseye wrote:R-V I completely agree with you

We are in the midst of paradigm shift with the advent of AI and Robotics, most don't realise it yet! But the Geeks will inherit the earth.

The rest of us will have to make do with the crumbs off their table .

Computer Scientists will be the new masters of the universe turning the tables on the money exchangers (aka bankers)-thus says my son.

It pleases me greatly that your daughter is into computing-good for her

Sorry about the hyperbolic language -got a bit carried away

Going a bit off topic here but it is a fascinating subject.

We are indeed in the midst of a paradigm shift that most of us are only dimly aware of. But never mind the Geeks inheriting the earth. If many of the top scientific and computer industry giants are correct it will be the AI computers and robots themselves who become the new masters of the universe!

I know that sounds like cheap science-fiction but its something that the likes of Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking are genuinely concerned about.

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