When is a policy not a policy? School‐based assessment of practical science at 16

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Abstract The introduction of the GCSE examination in England and Wales in 1988 required secondary school science teachers to assess the practical competence of their pupils at 16 + and to devote not less than 20% of the total marks to experimental or observational work in the laboratory or its equivalent. Drawing on a two‐year research study, this paper explores the response of teachers, schools and examining groups to this policy initiative by central government and examines the implications of the findings for the nature and locus of science education policy and for the professional situation of science teachers.