An exam expert has called for an “urgent policy rethink” on pupils being made to retake English and maths GCSEs because pass rates are “staggeringly low”.
Ahead of this week’s GCSE results, a report authored by Professor Alan Smithers, and published by the University of Buckingham’s Centre for Education and Employment Research, also claims that the underperformance of boys in school examinations “should be a matter of national concern”.
The report highlights trends to expect when GCSE results are published on Thursday 24 August.
Professor Smithers warns that the pass rates for retake students are “staggeringly low”.
He added that it “must be soul destroying to continually have to retake exams that you have failed in...Surely, there is an urgent need for a policy rethink”.
He also warned that politicians “should beware” of “projecting” learning that has been “important to them personally”, referencing prime minister Rishi Sunak’s new plan for maths to 18.
The prime minister first revealed his new plan to ensure that all pupils in England study some form of maths until age 18 in January of this year.
The report says that in 2022, just 22 per cent of retake entries in maths received a “pass mark” (a grade 4 or above), while the pass rate for English was 31.3 per cent.
Professor Smithers also points to concerns about the widening gender gap in those students achieving a grade 7-9 at GCSE.
In 2019, the report highlights a 6.2 percentage point difference, with 17.5 per cent of boys achieving a grade 7 and above compared to 23.7 per cent of girls.
In 2022, the gender gap rose to 7.2 percentage points, with 22.4 per cent of boys achieving a grade 7 and above, compared to 29.6 per cent of girls.
Professor Smithers said that while, with the return to pre-pandemic grading, the gap is “expected to narrow” he is concerned that “girls will still remain far ahead”.
GCSEs have grown ‘far apart’ under devolved administrations
Today’s report also predicts that GCSEs have grown “so far apart” under the devolved administrations that “it will soon be impossible for them to bear the same name”.
As education is a devolved power in the United Kingdom, Professor Smithers highlights the resulting differing policies, assessments, regulators and exam boards.
On A-level results day this year, United Learning’s chief executive Sir Jon Coles hit out at the difference in A-level grading between England and the nations of Wales and Northern Ireland where results - as expected - remained higher than in pre-pandemic years.
The report proposes: “If they are all still to be called GCSEs, the country in which they are awarded should be prominently displayed so that those using them know what they are dealing with.”
But Professor Smithers argues that it would be “better” if the qualifications were “renamed so that they are no longer mistaken for the same thing”.
The report also said that a return to pre-pandemic grading this year will mean around 300,000 fewer GCSE entries graded at a 7 or above.
Last week, the proportion of students receiving top grades in their A levels fell as expected.
There were 67,000 fewer top grades awarded to A-level entries this year than in 2022, but 26,000 more top grades awarded than in 2019.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This year, GCSE grading is largely returning to normal in line with plans set out by Ofqual almost two years ago, to ensure qualifications maintain their value and students get the opportunities they deserve.
“For students collecting their results, those opportunities will be greater than ever before thanks to our brand new T Levels, alongside A levels and other vocational and technical qualifications.
“We will also continue to support pupils through initiatives like the National Tutoring Programme, which is benefitting pupils most in need of support, including those in exam cohorts.”
