Narrowing choice has 'profound implications' for pupils, says Barry Black

University of Glasgow PhD Student, and UBDC associate, Barry Black has written an article on the issue of school subject choice in Scotland for Tes.com.

He notes that “the prominence of this issue is due to the increasing volume of evidence that pupils today have fewer opportunities to sit as many qualifications as pupils could under the standard grade system.”

In the article, Barry explains why it is necessary to clearly define the problem with subject choice in Scotland before it can be fixed. He discusses the disagreements about what is meant by “subject choice” and the lack of acceptance that the number of subjects available to young people has narrowed.

He says, “a narrowing of the number of subject choices has profound implications for pupils’ progression through education and their future choices.”

Barry’s research Chances or Choices? Influences on Young People’s Learning Decisions aims to investigate the social and structural factors that influence pupils’ school subject choices in the Greater Glasgow region and assess the implications for employers' engagement in schools.