The proportion of students passing GCSE resits in English fell dramatically in the November series.
Results published by the Joint Council for Qualifications this morning shows 34.9 per cent all English resit participants achieved the standard pass of grade 4 or above in England.
It marks a stark 5.4 percentage point drop from last year, when 40.3 per cent secured at least a standard pass and marginally higher than pre-pandemic 2019, when the pass rate was 32.3 per cent.
A quarter (25 per cent) more students registered for a GCSE English resit in November 2024 than the year prior. A total of 69,973 students retook English, up from 56,147 in November 2023.
It follows increasing numbers of school-aged pupils who failed to achieve a grade 4 “pass” in the subjects during their GCSEs this summer – 175,898 for maths and 181,682 for English.
The government’s resits policy mandates students who have not achieved a grade 4 pass in English and/or maths GCSE by age 16 to retake these qualifications as a condition of their places being funded.
The drop in GCSE English resit pass rates could stem from an exam boards’ controversial decision to “significantly” hike up the grade boundary for a resit exam earlier this summer.
Pearson Edexcel received numerous complaints and threats of legal action after it unexpectedly raised the grade 4 pass mark for its 2.0 English language exam from 73, used in both the June and November 2023 series, to 84 in summer 2024. Students who sat the exams in November 2024 needed 82 marks to achieve a grade 4.
“We expected the Pearson 2.0 results to be lower than the November 2023 sitting due to the standards set in summer 2024, however, the proportion of entries to Pearson 2.0 amount to less than 25 per cent of all entries in English Language,” said Catherine Sezen, director of education policy at the Association of Colleges (AoC).
“The results for GCSE English need further scrutiny, but it needs to be remembered that entry approaches differ from college to college and year to year,” she added.
Meanwhile, pass rates for GCSE maths resit exams improved marginally. The data showed 24.1 per cent of resit entrants achieved a grade 4 pass or above, a nudge higher than last year’s 22.2 per cent pass rate for November.
The rate is still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels, when the pass rate was 26.4 per cent in 2019, and 24.2 per cent in 2022.
Entries for GCSE maths resits entries rose by 13 per cent from 60,951 in November 2023 to 69,139 this year.
Sezen added that colleges have “once again managed dramatic growth in retake numbers” this year.
“It’s positive to see that the proportion of students who have gained a grade 4 in maths has increased from 2023,” she said.
“AoC has consistently called for a review of both English and maths qualifications at Key Stage 4 and post-16, and we are hopeful that the ongoing curriculum and assessment review will shine a light on what qualifications are appropriate for this cohort of students to ensure they can go on to succeed in life beyond college,” Sezen added.
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