{"id":871576,"date":"2025-09-09T00:13:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T05:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/09\/governments-gcse-english-and-maths-resits-policy-not-fit-for-purpose\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T00:13:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T05:13:03","slug":"governments-gcse-english-and-maths-resits-policy-not-fit-for-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/09\/governments-gcse-english-and-maths-resits-policy-not-fit-for-purpose\/","title":{"rendered":"Government\u2019s GCSE English and maths resits policy \u2018not fit for purpose\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Government\u2019s policy of making students resit maths and English<\/a> GCSEs is \u201cnot fit for purpose\u201d and it can undermine young people\u2019s \u201cconfidence and motivation\u201d, education leaders have warned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Politicians<\/a> have been urged to \u201crethink\u201d how young people are encouraged to gain English and maths skills after the number of post-16 students taking GCSE resits in the two subjects increased this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The rise in young people resitting their exams is partly down to a growing number of teenagers in the population, as well as the return to pre-pandemic grading standards in England in 2023, the Ofqual<\/a> chief has suggested.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In England, many students who do not secure at least a grade 4 \u2013 which is considered a \u201cstandard pass\u201d \u2013 in English and\/or maths GCSE are required to retake the subjects during post-16 education.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The proportion of 16-year-old entries in England securing at least a grade 4 in English language has dropped from 71.2% last year to 70.6% this year \u2013 although it is above the pre-pandemic year of 2019, when the figure was 70.5%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In maths, the proportion of 16-year-old entries in England securing at least a grade 4 has fallen from 72.0% in 2024 to 71.9% this year, though this is higher than 71.5% in 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Students<\/a> in England are funded to retake maths and\/or English until they achieve a GCSE grade 9 to 4.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For students with a grade 2 or below, they can either study towards a pass in functional skills level 2 or towards a GCSE grade 9 to 4.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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PA news agency analysis of figures by Ofqual suggests that 183,450 16-year-olds in England did not achieve a grade 4 or above in English language this year, 1,770 more than in 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In maths, it is likely that 174,930 16-year-olds did not achieve a grade 4 or above, 970 fewer than last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Read More<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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The Government<\/a> launched a curriculum and assessment review last summer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ahead of the review\u2019s final report, which is due in the autumn, education leaders have called on policymakers to look again at the GCSE resits policy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Education Secretary has said the review will look at how to support young people who do not achieve the \u201cright level\u201d in maths and English at GCSE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Pepe Di\u2019Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: \u201cOnce again we see that the majority of students who retake GCSE English and maths in post-16 education under a Government policy of mandatory resits continue to fall short of a grade 4 standard pass.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt is utterly demoralising for these young people and there has to be a better way of supporting literacy and numeracy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe urge the curriculum and assessment review to grasp this nettle.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Catherine Sezen, director of education policy at the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: \u201cAcross the country, educators are working hard to improve outcomes, yet many are left asking what more can be done.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAfter a decade of the condition of funding policy, it is time to rethink how we support young people to build essential English and maths skills.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She added that the AoC is calling for \u201ca more flexible, evidence-based approach\u201d which empowers colleges to meet learners\u2019 needs \u201cwithout relying on repeated resits that can undermine confidence and motivation\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders\u2019 union, said the current GCSE resit policy was \u201cnot fit for purpose\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He said: \u201cNAHT has long called for reform of the current policy that forces students into repeated resits, which is demotivating and ineffective.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat is needed are more appropriate and engaging alternatives to GCSEs in English and maths at KS4.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cPost-16 students who need to continue the subjects must be allowed to study for qualifications that suit their needs and ambitions, rather than defaulting to GCSE resits.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jill Duffy, chief executive of the OCR exam board, added that Thursday\u2019s figures showed a \u201cresit crisis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She said: \u201cTinkering at the edges of policy won\u2019t fix this. We need fundamental reform to maths and English secondary education \u2013 especially at Key Stage 3 \u2013 to support those who fall behind in these crucial subjects.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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UK GCSE entries for students aged 17 and over has risen by 12.1% compared with last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On the rise in the number of post-16 students taking resits, Sir Ian Bauckham, chief regulator at England\u2019s exams regulator Ofqual, said it was linked with the \u201crising demographic trend\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He told PA: \u201cIf you\u2019ve got a larger cohort \u2013 and proportions getting a grade four are broadly stable \u2013 you\u2019re going to see more people coming through to resit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cBut the reset of normal grading standards in 2023 probably also plays into it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sir Ian said: \u201cMy view is that the Government\u2019s policy that students continue to study English and maths post-16 if they haven\u2019t reached that critical grade four threshold is the right thing to do.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe policy is not that students do multiple resets. The policy is that they continue to study English and maths and sit, when appropriate, either for GCSE or for a functional skills qualification.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When asked by PA earlier this month whether the Government will scrap compulsory resits,\u00a0Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: \u201cThe curriculum and assessment review is looking at how best we can support 16 to 19-year-olds who don\u2019t achieve the right level in maths and English.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cOf course I do want more students \u2013 particularly from less well-off backgrounds \u2013 to get a good pass at GCSE in English and maths because that\u2019s the gateway to so much more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cBut the curriculum and assessment review is going to look at the approach we will take in the years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Eleanor Busby
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Government\u2019s policy of making students resit maths and English GCSEs is \u201cnot fit for purpose\u201d and it can undermine young people\u2019s \u201cconfidence and motivation\u201d, education leaders have warned. Politicians have been urged to \u201crethink\u201d how young people are encouraged to gain English and maths skills after the number of post-16 students taking GCSE resits<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":871577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28342,1220],"tags":[6798,8613],"class_list":{"0":"post-871576","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-english","8":"category-governments","9":"tag-english","10":"tag-governments"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}