Having read the article about GCSE failing those who depend upon it, it is clear that the majority of 16 year-olds continue in further education or training. For those who take GCSE's, there are too many subjects and too much pressure on students to do well in the exams, which makes life stressful. For some students the subjects are just too difficult and they do not pass many (or any at all) of the ones they take. This is unfair on the less able students who have to leave school already judged as a failure to then have to start out in life thinking that they are useless. What is the point of a student, who wants to leave schools at 16, taking any science subjects (compulsory at GCSE) when they are never going to use them in their jobs?.
It seems wrong therefore to make all students take the same exams when they have different needs. For example, students who want to go into employment at 16 need only show their employer that they have the basic skills required for their job (which may mean more life skills than academic skills). These students would only need to pass a basic education certificate to show that they understand the "3 Rs". .
I think that the GCSE should be scrapped and replaced by some kind of certificate of education. This should have different parts to it that show the level of education of the person that holds it. For example, everyone should take subjects say in arithmetic, English (written and spoken), citizenship and life skills. These would be useful to early school leavers and for those who want to stay on - those who want to stay on could add academic subjects to these basic ones to show that they can cope with more difficult subjects. .