The ‘tough’ new GCSE that needs just 17% to score a C
THE new GCSE qualifications are set to be embroiled in another marking row as data suggests grade boundaries could be up to 18 percentage points lower than last year.
In the higher tier maths paper, entrants may only need to get 17 per cent in order to score a C.
The new GCSEs were pioneered by former education secretary Michael Gove in an effort to drive up standards, and the first pupils to sit them will pick up their results on Thursday.
There were fears students would perform badly because of the harder content, but the exams regulator Ofqual has now said it will make sure ‘no student is disadvantaged’.
It means grade boundaries will be set low to ensure the same proportions get good and bad grades as last year. Similar measures were imposed on the new A-levels.
But the move prompted critics to question what the point was of making the exams more difficult.
It came as a row was brewing over whether private school pupils are being given an easier ride to university by boycotting the new qualifications in favour of IGCSEs, which are designed to prepare students to sit the International Baccelaureate in sixth form.
Alan Smithers, professor of education at the University of Buckingham, said setting low grade boundaries risked undermining the reforms.
‘Some people thought that the whole point in recalibrating the qualifications and creating a different grading scale was to free things up, and create a fresh start,’ he said. ‘But Ofqual is trying to square the circle. The exams are tougher but it wants to keep the outcomes the same. The only way to do this is to lower the grade thresholds.’
The new GCSEs are graded 1-9, with the bottom of the 4 grade being aligned with the old C, and the bottom of 7 being aligned with the old A. Ofqual have said the proportion of entries who previously scored a C or above – twothirds – will get a 4 or above this year. Meanwhile, 20 per cent should achieve a 7 or above, and within this group around 20 per cent will get the top grade of 9. Analysis shows that last year, when reformed exams were sat only in maths, English language and English Literature, grade boundaries were set lower by exam board Edexcel than for the old exams in 2016.For example, in the new higher tier maths paper, the grade boundary for a C was 17 per cent – down from 35 per cent the year before.
In English literature, the grade boundary was 43 per cent, in comparison with 60 per cent he previous year. And in English language it was 46 per cent, down from 60. This year, a further 20 subjects follow the new GCSE format.
The reforms followed years of grade inflation under New Labour. It led universities to complain they were no longer able to pick out the truly exceptional pupils.
The new exams will have more challenging content, in an effort to bring up standards.
However, yesterday there were concerns over some private schools’ failure to adopt the new qualifications. Some private schools are doing IGCSEs, an alternative which critics say is easier and gives them an unfair advantage in university admissions.
An investigation by the Times Educational Supplement has also found that some universities are asking for lower equivalent grades for IGCSEs than they are for reformed GCSEs.
nALMOST 4,000 courses at top universities still have vacancies despite a record number of pupils scooping places in clearing.
A total of 15,160 who missed out found places on Thursday, up around 2 per cent on 2017, and almost double that in 2009. Yet yesterday there were still 25,444 courses up for grabs, including 3,798 at the elite Russell Group universities. It comes after a cap on student numbers was lifted.