The challenge for resits runs deeper than exam volume

As debate around post-16 resits reforms grows, our latest research shows that just a third of college tutors think the current volume of assessment for post-16 GCSE maths and English is appropriate and more than half of students believe it’s too high. And our work with the Education Policy Institute on their recent resits report also shows that the disparity in outcomes across the country means we need to consider more effective solutions.

However, the resits challenges go far beyond paper count or length. Unless we also address the problem of what students are learning – and how – reducing these will have limited impact.

Key areas of concern

• Just 31 per cent of tutors think resits give students a second chance.
• 62 per cent of college students believe that resitting the same content makes students feel they’re going backwards, not forwards (echoed by 58 per cent of tutors).
• Only 54 per cent of those facing resits feel motivated to take them.
• 65 per cent of students have missed maths or English lessons and/or exams due to anxiety or confidence issues.
• Just 51 per cent of tutors think the maths specification meets post-16 learners’ needs (65 per cent for English).
• 41 per cent say students are less engaged the second time around.

What can we do for assessments now?

As we look to what we can change within existing qualifications, our focus needs to be on improving students’ exam experience.

Short-term adjustments such as reducing the number of exams in maths or changing the content volume in English have widespread support.

In maths, 64 per cent of tutors and 66 per cent of students favour fewer (possibly longer) exams to reduce exam anxiety, boost attendance, and ease logistical pressures on colleges.

For English, 75 per cent of tutors and 73 per cent of students said they would change the exam structure to break down the papers into smaller sections over more exams. To facilitate this, streamlining content and assessment will be key.

Reducing the number of text types, time periods, and writing tasks avoids repetition, improves relevance, and better aligns with the needs of FE teaching contexts.

As one college resit student told us: “It feels repetitive and boring and makes me less likely to want to learn because I already feel like I know it, even if I don’t.”

What next?

Adjustments to exam length and structure may help in the short term, but they only treat symptoms. We need English and maths GCSEs that are designed specifically for post-16 students that build the relevant skills young people need for their lives and future careers.

We need qualifications with parity of esteem that better recognise student success, remove the expectations to repeat previously mastered skills and give educators and employers a clearer view of students’ literacy and numeracy skills. 

Across English and maths, tutors and students were clear they wanted assessments that feel relevant, achievable, and meaningful.

For English, tutors called for:

• Content relevant to college students’ lives and futures (77.5 per cent)
• The ability to build up credit/marks across more than one exam session (76 per cent)
• Provision of anthology of texts to remove ‘unseen’ aspect (76 per cent)
• Greater focus on writing skills (76 per cent)

For maths, they said: 

• Content that feels more relevant to everyday life (e.g. money, work, practical maths) (79 per cent)
• More in-class support and practice (78 per cent)
• Digital/tech-based assessment options (78 per cent)
• Reduce overall assessment time (76 per cent)
• The ability to build up credit/marks across more than one exam session (76 per cent)

Time for a resits rethink

The evidence points in one direction: it is time for a resits rethink.

That rethink should be rooted not in continued debate but in trialling and piloting new approaches, giving us an evidence-informed view of what really works.

We’re working on what this looks like.

We are already trialling new assessment models in colleges across both maths and English. While in their early stages, the aim is clear: to give students the chance not only to demonstrate the expectations of a grade 4, but to break the demoralising cycle of resits.

Two students summarised our collective goal when they said that they need a “better way to learn” for resits and a “better way of doing exams”.

If we can deliver both, resits can become a bridge instead of a barrier to achievement.