A headteachers’ leader has called for a ”more humane qualification system” where students failing to achieve a “pass” grade in English and maths GCSEs are not accepted as “collateral damage”.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, has called for a “new style” of English and maths qualification to sit alongside the current system.
The comments come as social mobility expert Professor Lee Elliot Major warned that it was “a national scandal” that hundreds of thousands of students will fail to obtain a grade 4 in English and maths.
In 2019, 64.6 per cent of students achieved a grade 4/C or above in GCSE English and maths, meaning around a third (35.4 per cent) fell short.
Mr Barton warned that a “return to normality” on GCSE grading this year will mean “a return to the forgotten third”.
During the pandemic, the number of students failing to obtain at least a grade 4 in English and maths fell to 28.7 per cent in 2020 and 27.8 per cent in 2021.
However, last year the number grew as Ofqual made its first step back towards pre-pandemic grading - 31.2 per cent of pupils fell short of at least a grade 4 in English and maths.
Most students who fail to reach the grade 4 benchmark have to resit these exams during post-16 education.
However, ASCL highlights that last year only 29.7 per cent of 16- to 18-year-old students taking exams after Year 11 passed this threshold in English and just 18.2 per cent in maths.
Mr Barton said the pass rate was “baked into the system” and “there is very little room for it to change because the percentage of pupils achieving each grade is kept largely consistent from one year to the next”.
“These young people then have to go through the grind of retaking these qualifications in post-16 education - where most again fall below the benchmark,” he said. “It is incredibly demoralising and instead of building confidence in the vital skills of literacy and numeracy, it has precisely the opposite effect.
“We have to introduce a more humane qualification system in which this forgotten third is not accepted as some sort of necessary collateral damage.
“The answer is to develop a new style of English and maths qualification that can be taken by pupils at the point of readiness, which builds confidence, and that does not represent a cliff-edge over which many must fall. We are calling upon ministers to commit to a reform that is badly needed and long overdue.”
Professor Elliot Major warned that this year’s GCSE results “will reveal a stark chasm in school achievement” between disadvantaged students and their peers “who have been insulated from the damage wreaked by the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis”.
And on the subject of students failing to obtain a grade 4 or above in English or maths, he called for a “long-term inquiry to investigate why successive governments have failed to address an issue that continues to plague the British education system”.
New analysis published today by the Liberal Democrats has also revealed that the average GCSE pupil will have had one in 10 lessons with a teacher who is not a specialist in that subject over the past two years.
Munira Wilson, education spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, said that the government has “let our children down by missing recruitment targets year after year, allowing experienced teachers to leave in their droves”.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are returning to pre-pandemic grading this year, meaning results should be in line with 2019. It’s important for students that their qualifications hold value now and in the future, ensuring we have a system that treats students fairly compared to previous years.
“We remain committed to driving up standards as demonstrated by England’s continued rise up the international league tables in English and maths.
“This is so important as we know students who leave education with a good grasp of English and maths increase their chances of securing a job or going on to further study. This is why we support students who do not hold GCSE grade 4 or above in English and maths at age 16 to continue studying these subjects. We will also be driving up standards through the Prime Minister’s ambition for all students to study maths to 18.”
