What can the A-level protests of last summer tell us about political engagement amongst young people in the UK?
Protests outside the Department for Education in London on Sunday over last week’s A-level results. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA
COVID-19 saw the cancellation of secondary education exams across the country last year and in response, the official exam regulator Ofqual produced a grades standardisation algorithm that downgraded a large portion of A-level student results. 36% of results had a lower grade than teachers recommended and 3% of student results went down by two grades (BBC, 2020). There was a widespread outcry that saw hundreds of students out on the streets in protest which directly lead to a U-turn from both Ofqual and the government.
The A-level protests display the importance of political participation as an act for change. Trends suggest that young people prefer non-electoral forms of participation. Marsh and Kaase (1979, cited in Barnes and Kaase, 1979) argue that they offer the kinds of satisfactions…beyond those attainable through traditional pathways of political action. Furthermore, they offer new possibilities for attaining political goals. MacManus (1996) acknowledges that young people believe protests are favourable in influencing the government and engage in such activities for instrumental rather than expressive reasons. This rhetoric has been achieved through the A-level protests as we saw the government and exam body recognise public opposition and act accordingly. The revision saw a 10% increase in the number of top grades awarded (inews, 2020).
How successful of an indicator are the A-level protests in measuring youth political engagement?
However, critics would argue that while non-electoral forms of participation are increasing, voting is the main activity that matters and is often undermined by those who wish to seek alternative methods to politically participate. The 2016 EU referendum saw young people (18-24) have the lowest turnout of 60%, as shown in the graph below, and the 2019 General Election saw a turnout of 47% young people; a decrease of 7% when compared to 2017 (89 Initiative, 2020). The lack of voter engagement by young people is a great cause for concern. Protests can’t change the result once made. If more young people reject voting, political inequality will expand and more minority groups and their issues will be ignored? Liberal democracies require citizens to participate in both forms of politics and non-electoral participation cannot serve as a substitute for electoral participation (Milner, 2010).
Is increased voter turnout the only solution?
Perhaps voting shouldn’t be the defining factor in determining public attitudes towards political parties and who should be in power? More research needs to be conducted into why young people are disinterested in voting and prefer to take more direct action in expressing their views. Zukin et al. (2000) suggest that there is a subtle but important shift in citizenship away from a focus on the government and elections as the mechanisms for determining public good and towards alternative avenues.
One argument for reform is increased citizenship education, it is believed that young people’s low level of political engagement is due to lack of knowledge and not being taught to appreciate democracy in the classroom. Citizenship refers to the legal rights bestowed upon an individual denoted by their nationality (Marshall). While citizenship education has been compulsory in the national curriculum since 2001 between the ages of 11 to 16, this does not mean it is being taught correctly. Often there are no teachers specialised in the subject and so it is randomly allocated, showing the low value placed upon it amongst faculty. Moreover, not all schools have to follow the national curriculum, academies and free schools are exempt. This shows us that teaching young people about civic education is not prioritised which contributes to low election turnouts.
The theory of increased participation is very important, from my experience not a lot was learned in the classroom as we were being spoken to rather actively involved in making a difference. It has been recorded that learning through open dialogue and practicing political engagement is an effective way to learn the skills for political engagement (Hoskins and Janmmat, 2019). Furthermore, critical pedagogy should be promoted in the classroom if we wish for young people to not be passive and actively engage in politics. Questioning the power structures of our society is a valuable lesson and one I did not learn consistently when in school. A big flaw of the education system in this country is the eurocentric curriculum and I believe it is imperative to push for its decolonisation, in order to provide students with a fair account of history.
My final thoughts
The U-turn decision of A-level results was a huge success and encourages non-traditional forms of political participation but does not evade criticism of youth political engagement…Perhaps, the government would not have led to such an unfair decision if the views of young people were better represented in Parliament. But we should not blame young people for their lack of enthusiasm. We need to ask ourselves why this is such a prominent issue in the first place and question if voting is even the best way to determine the views of the people; decide who has the power to govern our country. Aaron J. Martin (2012) describes tackling youth political engagement as complex but I think the first step should be to tackle the education system and offer efficient learning in citizenship.
How do you think we should tackle this issue?
Bibliography
BBC (2020) A-levels and GCSEs: How did the exam algorithm work? Available: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-53807730 (Accessed: 23/02/21).
S. H. Barnes and M. Kaase (1979) Political Action: Mass Participation in Five Western Democracies. (eds.) Beverly Hills: Sage.
MacManus, S, A. (1996) Young v. Old: Generational Combat in the 21st Century. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
inews (2020) A-level results 2020: 39% of teacher predicted grades downgraded by algorithm amid calls for U-turn. Available at: https://inews.co.uk/news/education/a-level-results-2020-grades-downgraded-algorithm-triple-lock-u-turn-result-day-578194 (Accessed: 23/02/21).
The Independent (2020) Students protest A-level results and demand Gavin Williams’ resignation. 14 August. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cgb_wXR4ec&feature=emb_title (Accessed: 23/02/21).
89 Initative (2020) Youth turnout – How does the UK compare to other European nations? Available at: https://89initiative.com/youth-turnout-uk-europe/ (Accessed: 23/02/21).
House of Commons Library (2019) Political disengagement in the UK: who is disengaged? (CBP-7501). Available at: Political disengagement in the UK – UK Parliament
researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk › CBP-7501 (Accessed: 23/02/21).
Milner, H. (2010) The Internet Generation: Engaged Citizens or Political Dropouts. Metford, MA: Tufts University Press.
Zukin, C., Kerter, S., Andolina, M., Jenkins, K. and Delli Caprini, M.X. (2006) A New Engagement? Political Participation, Civic Life, and the Changing American Citizen. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hoskins and Janmaat, J.G. (2019) Education, Democracy and Inequality: Political Engagement and Citizenship Education in Europe. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Martin, A., J. (2012) Young people and politics: political engagement in the Anglo-American democracies. Routledge