Education sector leaders have raised concerns that pupils from disadvantaged communities are among the worst affected by a failure to consider the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on GCSE grading.
As with A-levels results earlier this month, this week’s GCSE results are lower than over the last three years.
This year is the first in a two-year plan by the government to return to pre-pandemic grading arrangements. Overall GCSE results are similar to 2019, with a fifth of pupils achieving grade 7 and above and around a third failing to achieve grade 4 and above.
“However, we would caution against direct comparisons between this year’s grades and those in 2019 because of the disproportionate impact of the pandemic and subsequent cost-of-living crisis on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds,” said Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Geoff Barton.
