Dear Mr Gove.

I wish to inform you of a practice taking place in one of your schools, Oldbury Academy, which might be worthy of your attention.

This school has recently introduced a scheme targeted at a group of 49 pupils who are in Year 11 and who are due to sit GCSE exams this summer. The group of pupils has been identified by the school as candidates who are currently unlikely to achieve the all important grade C in English or Maths or both.

In an attempt to get the members of this group to work harder in the hope that each pupil will achieve Cs in both (thus boosting the schools exam-performance statistics (5 A*-C including English and Maths), each of these pupils has been offered a financial carrot of £200 on condition that grade Cs are secured for both subjects.

While it is likely that the school’s governing body has checked the legality of such a measure, there are certain questions which might be asked with regard to the morality of the practice and the wider implications for education and the messages we wish to transmit to the pupils in our care. Some which come to mind immediately are: Is it not unfair to those pupils who will achieve their results through honest endeavour and diligent application without being bribed to work harder?

Does the same school intend to indicate to prospective employers and establishments of higher education that the exam results of a particular candidate were partly achieved with the help of a £200 incentive?

What message does it send, taking the present Year 10 as an example, to those pupils who are not particularly well-motivated at the moment, about their motivation strategy in Year 11? The ‘we’ll only work if we’re paid’ philosophy is very dangerous when applied to the educational arena. Ultimately the value of education has to be intrinsic for it to have lasting value.

This initiative will cost somewhere in the region of £10,000. Times are hard and many services are being cut. Is it therefore justifiable to spend money in this way when the same funding could be used to provide important and educationally valuable experiences for many more of its pupils?

What messages does this send, not only to the pupils, but also to staff, parents and the wider public? Are the wider parent population even aware?

I feel so strongly about this issue that after much consideration I have decided to alert people, such as yourself, who are at the highest level of our education system. You may also be interested to learn that I am sending a copy of this letter to OFSTED.

I look forward to receiving your views on this matter.

Yours sincerely. 

Christopher Hill