Key facts
- Government plans mandate retakes of GCSE maths and English for students who fail.
- This year, only one in seven students retaking GCSE maths and one in six retaking English achieved a grade 4 or above.
- Approximately 620,000 year 11 students are expected to retake these subjects.
- Education Secretary Lucy Powell proposed a new 'level one' qualification as an alternative.
- Critics argue the policy is demotivating and could increase the number of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET).
UK education leaders and experts have criticized the government's proposal to make students who fail GCSEs in maths and English retake the exams, citing low pass rates for retakes and potential negative impacts on student motivation and future prospects.
This year, only about 14% of students retaking GCSE maths and 17% retaking English achieved a grade 4 or above, indicating that the majority of the 620,000 year 11 students facing these retakes will likely need to continue studying the subjects next year. This contrasts with record high grades achieved by students in year 11 overall.
Education Secretary Lucy Powell defended the government's plan to introduce a new 'level one' qualification, describing the current system as a "hamster wheel" that labels students as failures. She aims for the new qualification to provide a "passport" for further study or apprenticeships.
However, school leaders and academics have expressed skepticism. Pepe Di'Iasio of the Association of School and College Leaders stated that the current policy of forcing post-16 students into relentless GCSE English and maths resits is "simply not working" and called for a rethink of assessment methods to address the NEET crisis. Professor Lee Elliot Major warned that the new qualification must be fair and not create a two-tier system, emphasizing the need for system reform rather than just different pathways with "different ceilings."
Paul Whiteman from the National Association of Head Teachers echoed these sentiments, advocating for more appropriate and engaging alternatives to GCSEs at key stage 4 that better suit students' needs and aspirations, rather than "dispiritng rounds of repeated, demotivating resits."
Separate data showed that boys in England achieved a new high in GCSE maths performance, with 24% earning a grade 7 or above, while girls continued to lead in top grades across all subjects. The top grade 9 proportion remained unchanged.