The "relentless" cycle of pupils in England failing and then resitting their GCSEs in maths and English is "simply not working", a leading education union has said. The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said a "significant proportion" of students fall short of passing those subjects, and that most who retake those exams "face the miserable experience of falling short once again". Thursday's results data showed nearly one in four maths and English GCSEs in England were taken by students aged 17 and older, mostly young people resitting exams they had previously failed.
The government said it wanted to stop the "endless treadmill of unnecessary resits". It said it would introduce a new "stepping stone" qualification from 2028 at Level 1 - one level below GCSEs - for students who do not achieve a pass in GCSE maths or English. Currently, many courses and jobs remain dependent on students securing GCSE passes in those subjects.
But those that miss the grade can find themselves in a continuing loop of resits as they try and try again to pass. Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of ASCL, said the fail-resit cycle was like "force feeding" students a "relentless diet of GCSE English and maths". "This limits their education and career options and is very likely to be a factor in the large number of young people who end up not in employment, education or training," he said.
Pass rates for students aged 17 and older in English and maths are much lower than 16-year-old students taking the exams for the first time, bringing down overall GCSE grades for all ages across England, Wales and Northern Ireland as a result. While resitting is not a requirement, according to the Department for Education (DfE), colleges will generally enter students into exams when they think they are ready. For Marianne, from Cambridgeshire, results day has been a "mixed bag" as both of her sons, Tobias and Jake, collected GCSE results.
While Jake achieved a grade 8 in maths, his older brother, Tobias, did not get the pass he wanted after sitting the exam for a fifth time. "He turns up for his lessons, he puts great effort in, there's just something about maths he doesn't get. What do we do now?" Last week Tobias, collected A-level results in which he achieved a B in history and two Cs in politics and criminology - but his ambitions to apply to university to become a history teacher are on ice without that pass in maths.
"It's horrendous making him keep doing it. I don't think it's fair, the pressure on them to keep resitting it," mum Marriane said. The new stepping stone qualification would offer an alternative route for students like Tobias to keep moving forward.
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