22% of students didn't get Grade 4 or higher in Maths or English this summer

[Itfelloffwithaclunk]

Did anyone else see Breakfast News with this item this morning? Over one fifth of students having to retake, because of a 'perfect storm' of high numbers taking them (a high birth year apparently), and returning to pre pandemic grade boundaries.

I'm really shocked. The very eloquent teacher from Greater Manchester was very interesting on this subject.

The tests are designed so that top 78% pass.

English is problematic in that there's no foundation paper so the 22% end up with no qualification and are wasting their time sat in the exam hall and lessons. There should be a qualification that proves that some of the 22% can read and write enough for work and apprenticeship purposes. (Functional Skills)

The problem is what those children who have ‘failed’ and keep failing will do. YT training/apprentices would be ideal, but they probably need maths and English passes to get onto them!

Or maybe time to think laterally. If you can pass say history which requires reading, comprehension and writing skills then could that be seen as the equivalent of a pass in English because of similar skills used?

What's so sad about this too is that many kids are being dragged through repeat English language GCSE several times post 16. There is even less hope of them passing at that point. Thanks to Mr Gove, the recent English language qualification requires them to read lots of literature. Yet the basic premise of them being required to pass at grade 4 is that they need it prove they have basic reading and writing skills for the workplace or further quals. That is simply not what this exam is now testing. GCSE English Language is currently testing whether they can jump through odd hoops, in tightly timed conditions, about how literary devices are being used by writers and also reading unseen nineteenth-century texts. It is not testing the level of their fundamental literacy skills for life. Different exam boards have all sorts of daft methodologies of how they want young people to answer these questions too so they have to know the method not just answer in the way any normal logical adult might respond to the given question. Literature is tested in GCSE Literature. There is simply no good reason for making young people answer on that for GCSE Language where what employers need to know is that they're can basically read and write. Very sad for so many young people. And I say this as a big promoter of literature in my working life. But the exams for language are simply wrongly focused. The language exam content needs changing to test the skills for life that they are purporting to examine. And needs to be marked by people who are thoroughly checked and know what they are doing... which is a whole other story.

Most of them do get a qualification, it is only a small percentage who come away with a U. Most will get a grade 1, 2, or 3 which are English GCSE pass grades at level 1.

The current maths GCSE is too hard. Even the foundation paper. It's soul destroying knowing that many of the exam questions will have some sort of twist, or be hidden in some way that means the kids won't be able to demonstrate skills that they can actually do!

I understand that problem solving questions are a better test of genuine mathematical understanding. But it's not fair on those kids who have very little mathematical aptitude, but who are willing to work hard to learn the skills for this compulsory exam that they don't even want to take.

International Pisa exams ( A- level) indicate that UK is not bad at maths. Not the top like Singapore or in Europe Estonia but not bad at all.

@anunlikelyseahorse You can be clever and have SEN.

For example someone who is very bright but who gets overwhelmed by a school environment and needs adjustments to cope.

What percentage of kids usually walk away with a 4 or less? Is 22% especially low?

And I thought these things were mapped out in advance, so that there's an even distribution across the grades? Surely, by design, there will always be a significant and broadly similar percent of kids with these grades?

Yeh, sorry I let my emotions get in the way! I just hate the system that is setting so many kids up to fail. I hate that dd struggles everyday at school, I hate the fact it's pointless her sitting exams she cannot pass. But my post was ignorant and I've asked for it to be deleted.

But when we had O Levels the kids who wouldn't be capable of accessing an O level took CSEs. When they achieved a CSE they weren't deemed to have failed and made to take the O Level afterwards. That's what's happening now.

Is it though? Did the kids that are having to retake do higher or foundation papers? We don't know. You could still effectively "fail" a CSE. Also, back then, many kids weren't even allowed or encouraged to take these exams at all. I wonder what happened to them. There were some at my school who weren't entered for anything.

40 years ago it was easier to get jobs without qualifications as there were more unskilled jobs in factories etc.

You would hope people failing GCSE maths would have been put in to the foundation paper on the whole, but it won't always be the case.

I think it's often not widely known in wider population what a huge barrier it can be not having grade 4 or C (in Wales) can actually be.

Also think some pupils should be able to take functional skills or equivalent qualifications much earlier rather than post GCSE. The retaking often doesn't produce better results either.

It's not a new figure and honesty I think some of the problems with maths start very early in primary school teaching.

We stepped in very early with our dc with primary school maths and I really don't think they'd have done as well as they did if we hadn't. Though not sure the schools have time to do more.

They changed the boundaries for the grades and totally forgot these DC were Covid DC

That's not true.
They put the boundaries back to more or less 2019 levels to make a break from the inflated 20, 21 and less so 22 levels.
If as is likely the kids were still impacted by covid you would expect the pass rates to be noticeably below those of 2019. They weren't.

Yes, these kids should have done worse than 2019 (per national reference tests) and they didn't.

Seems about normal to me. Only 50% get 5 of 4 and above here and same as it ever was, one of the better schools too

Is it really one of the better schools if it's only 50% at 4 or 5? I checked DC1 secondary and it is 96% for both maths and english at grade 4 or above. I'm shocked it's as high as 22% not getting a pass.

I mean if 22% not passing, then at 50% grade 4, the school is well below average isn't it?

My son’s SENDs special school routinely has passgrades for GCSE around 90%, showing that most kids are able to pass maths and english GCSE.
Many are let down by the system. All kids in his school have significant SENDs, usually severe dyslexia plus something else (ASD, ADHD, anxiety, ….). Many have been excluded from multiple schools before.
The current system is letting so many kids down badly…

Is it a selective school? 96% would be very unusually high.

My son’s SENDs special school routinely has passgrades for GCSE around 90%, showing that most kids are able to pass maths and english GCSE.

Only if they enter all the children? And do they mean pass at grades 4+?

That would mean they only enter children likely to get those grades.

I agree. Do they really need to sit 3 maths papers? It's a ridiculous amount of content to get through. They of course need decent numeracy skills but the whole GCSE curriculum is soul destroying.