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The Guardian
29 minutes ago
- The Guardian
As Covid effect ebbs, GCSE results reveal broken legacy of Gove's resit policy
This year's GCSE results in England delivered something that teachers and policymakers had craved in recent years: stability, at least for most 16-year-olds. Covid and its aftermath had sent GCSE results seesawing until this summer, when results were more similar to the previous year than at any time since the pandemic struck in 2020. Grades for 16-year-olds in England have nudged up, but a microscope is needed to see some of the changes since last summer, such as the shrinking attainment gap between boys and girls, or the slight decline in English and maths results. The variations are fractional compared with what came before. As the tide of disruption recedes, however, it exposes the broken legacy of a policy introduced by Michael Gove more than a decade ago of forcing students who fail to achieve at least a grade 4 in GCSE maths and English to resit the qualifications while they remain in education. Until 2019 the policy, along with reforms to GCSE formats and grading, led to fewer resits being required, especially among disadvantaged pupils. That has now reversed, and the numbers forced into retakes has gone up. There were 346,000 entries in English and maths GCSEs by students aged 17 to 19 this year, compared with fewer than 300,000 in 2024. Just one in six for the older age group passed maths this year, and only one in 100 got top grades. Among the 19-year-olds disappointed this year will be some who sat GCSE maths for the third time after failing to achieve a grade 4 'standard pass' in 2023 or 2024, leading educators and experts to become increasingly critical of the resit policy. Jill Duffy, the chair of the Joint Council for Qualifications and chief executive of the OCR examination board, said nearly a quarter of GCSE maths and English entries were now resits, an all-time high. 'This is a resit crisis. Tinkering at the edges of policy won't fix this,' she said. Prof Ulrike Tillmann, the chair of the Royal Society's education committee, said: 'History shows that two-thirds of GCSE resit students do not achieve the required grade by age 19, and we cannot let this pattern continue. 'Repeated resits create huge pressures on teachers, schools and colleges, not to mention the emotional strain on students forced to retake an exam that does not serve them. We must question whether the maths content these students are studying meets their needs.' Duffy agreed that a closer look at maths and English was needed across the secondary curriculum. 'When we've looked at scripts for those students who aren't getting grade 4, what's really clear is that there are fundamental skills they should have been getting much earlier in key stage 3, if not earlier,' she said. She envisions changes to the two subjects to reduce 'overcrowding' in maths by stripping out topics such as trigonometry, and to make the English qualification more relevant. 'When we look at GCSE English, I would say it is universally unpopular. I haven't met a student or teacher who likes it,' she said. 'We really need to look at that and we need to add more modern relevant texts so we're making it more relevant and more engaging for young people today.' Change may be on the way. The government has commissioned a national curriculum review for England, which is expected to report later this year. One of the key points among its interim findings will be 'considering the impact of current performance measures on young people's choices and outcomes' - a hint that the built-in cycle of failure may be ending.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
GCSE results: Are we in a Maths and English ‘resit crisis'?
For almost a quarter of pupils taking Maths and English GCSEs this year, it wasn't their first rodeo. Some 23.4% of pupils taking those exams were aged 17 and older - an all-time some of those would have been mature students sitting them for the first time, most would have been school- or college-age pupils taking resits after failing them when they were England, if a pupil doesn't get a passing grade in GCSE Maths and English the first time around, they need to keep studying for them and retaking the exams alongside doing their next course, such as A-levels or resits are held twice a year, in June and resitting are far less likely to pass than those sitting the exams for the first time. This year in England, only 20.9% of English entries and 17.1% of Maths entries for pupils aged 17 or older achieved a passing grade - grade 4 - or of those was James Bonning from Birmingham, who has just achieved a grade 4 in his Maths GCSE on his third told BBC News he needed to pass his exam to get his Level 2 Electrical Training qualification."It's just a relief," he said. "[If I didn't pass] I wouldn't be able to go on a Level 2, and then progress to Level 3 after it."[Passing] opens loads of doors, whether it's electrician or any other trade."Results day has brought good news for James - but Bethany Clarke, who's studying at the same college, has now found out she'll have to retake her exam again. Bethany told BBC News that she found the exams challenging: "The non-calculator, it's definitely harder because obviously you don't have the calculator… but even with the calculator papers it's definitely hard, especially the last paper this year."But she is keeping a positive attitude."Honestly, I feel quite happy," she said. "I didn't get a grade 4, but I was six marks off, so I'm really happy about that."Educationalists are sounding the alarm about Duffy, chief executive of the exam board OCR, has said these pupils end up getting stuck in a years-long cycle of resits - and that we're now seeing a "resit crisis"."We've seen the number of 17-year-olds taking Maths increased by 8% - but 18-year-olds, this year we're seeing that number increased by almost 20%," Ms Duffy told BBC Radio 4's World at One."So, they are re-sitting, and they're entering this dispiriting, if you like, cycle of resits." Not only is it potentially demoralising for pupils to have to sit and fail exams multiple times, but according to Catherine Sezen from the Association of Colleges, it also puts a strain on colleges, who end up having to facilitate these resits."If you think there are 3,400 secondary schools, but there are only around 190 colleges that are doing most of this work, that's where the students go. So, the logistics for the college are completely overwhelming," Ms Sezen told BBC News."It's quite overwhelming in terms of the proportion of English and Maths that you're delivering. If you go into a college, walk down corridors and that's what people are doing."Those are important skills, but it's time for a rethink."Updated guidance from the Department for Education says it is not compulsory for pupils to resit their GCSE maths or English exams, and they should do so only when they - and their school or college - think they are ready. Previously it has been described as a requirement. 'The current GCSE is far too big' We know there is an issue - the data makes this clear. But the question is, why is this happening?One suggestion is that the GCSE Maths and English curricula are expecting too much from her Radio 4 interview, Ms Duffy said that "on maths specifically, we think the current GCSE is far too big and it includes knowledge that isn't required"."For example, you have to memorise the exact values of trigonometry - and that's something we're not even asking A-level students to do," she high-achieving pupils in England, Maths is a success story. The country performs well in international league tables for the subject, and more pupils than before are going on to study Maths at Ms Duffy adds: "We also have to expect that at the other end there's more work that we need to do. It can't be that we have a third of students who aren't getting the basic maths skills that they need at 16." The problem may also be more deeply rooted, and in many cases may go far further back than Duffy told the BBC that when her exam board looked at the transcripts of pupils who had failed, "what's really clear is they're missing out on some of the fundamental Maths and English skills that they should be getting earlier on in their career."So we think there's an awful lot that needs doing in Key Stage 3 [between ages 11 and 14], and even before Key Stage 3, to make sure that they're getting these fundamental skills so that when they get to doing those GCSEs at 16, we don't have so many that are then going on to resit." Catherine Sezen echoed this, and suggested some pupils are on a path to GCSE failure from as early as primary school."If you look at those students who are low achievers at the end of Key Stage 2 [aged 11], about 20% of those students [go on to] achieve a grade 4 at GCSE at 16," she said. "So, this is really quite embedded - it goes right back to reception and to nursery."The government's target is that 75% of children are ready for school at four or five. What about the other 25%?"I suppose I think what you're seeing there is that there are some children who never catch up."Ms Sezen added that in general, pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds do worse in these exams - and for this cohort in particular, the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 and 2021 could be playing a part, too."The year 11s this year would have been in that primary-secondary changeover phase during the pandemic," she said."What Covid did was exacerbate disadvantage… if you didn't have a laptop, if you didn't have a tablet, if you had parents who were trying to juggle two or three children and perhaps also trying to work from home." 'Fundamental reform' So, what's the solution?In a statement released by OCR, Ms Duffy called for "fundamental reform to Maths and English secondary education - especially at Key Stage 3".Ms Sezen believes it could be time to introduce an alternative to the GCSE more tailored towards lower-achieving pupils, which would "ensure success for more young people at 16, for those young people who are not quite ready to reach that threshold."We have to understand that there are some young people who will never reach that threshold… You need to have appropriate qualifications for the people you've got sitting in front of you to make sure that they can look at doing basic skills well. And you can continue to build those skills from 16 to 18 if you need to."She added that the exam system should allow pupils to build up credits, rather than the current all-or-nothing approach."I also think we need to look at what countries are doing across the world," she added. "We need to build on evidence and research of what works, because quite clearly what we've got at the moment doesn't." Additional reporting by Hazel Shearing and Christopher Steers
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Why GCSE English and maths resits policy is ‘not fit for purpose'
The government 's policy of making students resit maths and English GCSEs is 'not fit for purpose', education leaders have warned. Politicians have been urged to 'rethink' how young people are encouraged to gain English and maths skills after the number of post-16 students taking GCSE resits in the two subjects increased this year. The rise in young people resitting their exams is partly down to a growing number of teenagers in the population, as well as the return to pre-pandemic grading standards in England in 2023, the Ofqual chief has suggested. But the organisation says resits can undermine young people's 'confidence and motivation', In England, many students who do not secure at least a grade 4 – which is considered a 'standard pass' – in English and/or maths GCSE are required to retake the subjects during post-16 education. The proportion of 16-year-old entries in England securing at least a grade 4 in English language has dropped from 71.2 per cent last year to 70.6 per cent this year – although it is above the pre-pandemic year of 2019, when the figure was 70.5 per cent. In maths, the proportion of 16-year-old entries in England securing at least a grade 4 has fallen from 72.0 per cent in 2024 to 71.9 per cent this year, though this is higher than 71.5 per cent in 2019. Students in England are funded to retake maths and/or English until they achieve a GCSE grade 9 to 4. For students with a grade 2 or below, they can either study towards a pass in functional skills level 2 or towards a GCSE grade 9 to 4. PA news agency analysis of figures by Ofqual suggests that 183,450 16-year-olds in England did not achieve a grade 4 or above in English language this year, 1,770 more than in 2024. In maths, it is likely that 174,930 16-year-olds did not achieve a grade 4 or above, 970 fewer than last year. The government launched a curriculum and assessment review last summer. Ahead of the review's final report, which is due in the autumn, education leaders have called on policymakers to look again at the GCSE resits policy. The Education Secretary has said the review will look at how to support young people who do not achieve the 'right level' in maths and English at GCSE. Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: 'Once again we see that the majority of students who retake GCSE English and maths in post-16 education under a government policy of mandatory resits continue to fall short of a grade 4 standard pass. 'It is utterly demoralising for these young people and there has to be a better way of supporting literacy and numeracy. 'We urge the curriculum and assessment review to grasp this nettle.' Catherine Sezen, director of education policy at the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: 'Across the country, educators are working hard to improve outcomes, yet many are left asking what more can be done. 'After a decade of the condition of funding policy, it is time to rethink how we support young people to build essential English and maths skills.' She added that the AoC is calling for 'a more flexible, evidence-based approach' which empowers colleges to meet learners' needs 'without relying on repeated resits that can undermine confidence and motivation'. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders' union, said the current GCSE resit policy was 'not fit for purpose'. He said: 'NAHT has long called for reform of the current policy that forces students into repeated resits, which is demotivating and ineffective. 'What is needed are more appropriate and engaging alternatives to GCSEs in English and maths at KS4. 'Post-16 students who need to continue the subjects must be allowed to study for qualifications that suit their needs and ambitions, rather than defaulting to GCSE resits.' Jill Duffy, chief executive of the OCR exam board, added that Thursday's figures showed a 'resit crisis. She said: 'Tinkering at the edges of policy won't fix this. We need fundamental reform to maths and English secondary education – especially at Key Stage 3 – to support those who fall behind in these crucial subjects.' UK GCSE entries for students aged 17 and over has risen by 12.1 per cent compared with last year. On the rise in the number of post-16 students taking resits, Sir Ian Bauckham, chief regulator at England's exams regulator Ofqual, said it was linked with the 'rising demographic trend'. He told PA: 'If you've got a larger cohort – and proportions getting a grade four are broadly stable – you're going to see more people coming through to resit. 'But the reset of normal grading standards in 2023 probably also plays into it as well.' Sir Ian said: 'My view is that the government's policy that students continue to study English and maths post-16 if they haven't reached that critical grade four threshold is the right thing to do. 'The policy is not that students do multiple resets. The policy is that they continue to study English and maths and sit, when appropriate, either for GCSE or for a functional skills qualification.' Speaking to PA earlier this month, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: 'The curriculum and assessment review is looking at how best we can support 16 to 19-year-olds who don't achieve the right level in maths and English. 'Of course I do want more students – particularly from less well-off backgrounds – to get a good pass at GCSE in English and maths because that's the gateway to so much more. 'But the curriculum and assessment review is going to look at the approach we will take in the years to come.'
