English and maths pass rates only tell half the story

Following another fall in post-16 English and maths pass rates, it is understandable that the spotlight is falling on GCSE resits.

This summer, just 15.3 per cent of post-16 maths entries and 19.8 per cent of English language entries achieved grade 4 or above. More worryingly, only around one in ten maths entries from 18- and 19-year-olds achieved the grade 4 gateway.

I do not believe the problem lies solely with GCSE resits. I remain a strong supporter of them. GCSEs are important, widely recognised qualifications. For many learners, another year of focused teaching, often in a different environment, can secure the grade required and open new opportunities.

I also do not believe that we should lower our expectations, as we should continue to encourage as many learners as possible to get to achieve a grade 4 or above. But we need to be clearer about our purpose: is it simply to increase grade 4 achievement, or to develop the literacy and numeracy that young people need for further study, employment and adult life?

The two are connected, but they are not the same.

A GCSE grade is an important measure of attainment, but it cannot capture every aspect of a learner’s development. As director of English and maths at SGS College, I see the learners’ stories behind the national figures.

One 18 year old learner, who has sat GCSE maths in each of the past three years, has finished within three marks of grade 4 while increasing his raw mark every time.

This summer, he achieved 148 marks. That would have secured grade 4 in every other sitting he has taken – but the boundary moved again and he received another grade 3.

The current approach means that he might feel like he’s failed. Yet he has not failed to progress and develop his numeracy skills. His improving marks demonstrate that. His performance shows that he is working at the level associated with grade 4, but headline reporting records only another unsuccessful resit. That cannot be the fullest or most accurate account of his achievement.

His experience shows why pass rates alone cannot tell us everything. Grade boundaries maintain standards, but the resulting binary outcome can conceal substantial progress immediately below the threshold.

Recognising that progress does not mean accepting a grade 3 as the final destination. It means acknowledging how far a learner has travelled while continuing to support them towards level 2.

That is why ‘value added’ should be regarded as just as important as grade 4 to 9 achievement when reporting on FE English and maths. It would not capture this learner’s progress because his grade remained unchanged, but it would recognise thousands of others who have substantially improved their literacy, numeracy and qualification outcome.

Headline pass rates tell us who crossed the threshold. They do not tell us where learners started, how far they travelled or how English and maths affected their confidence, engagement and ability to apply those skills elsewhere.

FE colleges work with young people who arrive with gaps in knowledge, low confidence and deeply established negative experiences of these subjects. We cannot resolve in 36 weeks gaps that may have developed over more than a decade. But colleges can, and do, move learners forward significantly.

A stronger focus on ‘value added’ would provide a more accurate account of that impact while retaining grade 4 as an important national ambition. This is not a choice between attainment and progress. We should report both. And we should celebrate learners that have made significant progress in their literacy and numeracy skills, rather than branding them as failures year on year.

The government’s proposed level 1 stepping-stone qualification has the potential to support that approach. It will offer learners with lower starting points a better route towards grade 4 and an opportunity to celebrate their successes in developing their literacy and numeracy skills. That has to be a good thing, particularly if the qualification then leads toward further skills development rather than becoming a lower-status destination.

A grade 4 matters and should be celebrated and aspired to. But recognising developing literacy and numeracy skills alongside a headline achievement rate would not lower the bar. It would give us a more complete and honest account of how FE colleges develop literacy and numeracy, move learners forward and transform future opportunities.