Schools and colleges in England are expecting a flood of “demotivated” young people forced to retake their GCSE English and maths exams next year, as nearly 40,000 more students are thought likely to fail to get the minimum grade in at least one of the two key subjects.
Students who have not gained at least a grade 4 (equivalent to a lower grade C) in English or maths have to resit the subjects until they are 18 and remain in full-time education. The numbers are likely to rise this year as GCSE grading returns to tougher, pre-pandemic levels.
Students from disadvantaged backgrounds and those whose education was most disrupted by the Covid pandemic are expected to be most affected, with school leaders and teaching unions calling on the government to revise the requirement.
Last year’s GCSE results in England saw the widest gap in results for a decade between disadvantaged pupils and their better-off peers, a trend that is expected to continue this year.
Headteachers have said many pupils this year have struggled with high anxiety in the aftermath of Covid, as well as the effects of the cost of living crisis.
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “Forcing resits is demotivating for many students and the low pass rate is a clear sign of policy failure. Educators know the weaknesses of the current system and have suggested many alternatives, from functional skills tests to modular assessments. The government should rethink this outdated policy.”
