Half of pupils get D or below in GCSE maths

MORE than half of pupils who took the two GCSE maths exams in Wales in November got a D or below, results published yesterday show.

Overall results are very slightly better than the November 2016 results, the first time the new qualifications were sat, but slightly down on summer 2017.

November GCSE results show 48.5% of pupils got grades A* to C in GCSE maths numeracy and 45.9% got grades A* to C in GCSE maths.

Overall, more than 91% of all pupils who took the two GCSE maths exams in Wales last November achieved an A* to G grade with more than 10% of those awarded either an A* or A grade.

Students in Wales now take different maths exams with two, instead of one, maths GCSE qualifications.

One of the exams covers numeracy and the other mathematics.

Qualifications Wales said the results could not be compared with those from last January or the summer GCSE exams because of the different cohort and ages of pupils taking them.

The top A* to A grades were achieved by 11.1% of the total 19,730 pupils who sat the GCSE maths numeracy exam while 10.6% of the 22,670 pupils who took GCSE maths were awarded the top two grades.

The top A* to A grade was achieved by 19,730 of pupils (11.1%) who sat maths numeracy exam while 10.6% of the 22,670 pupils who took GCSE maths were awarded the top two grades.

November was the third opportunity for the two GCSE maths qualifications, introduced for the first time for teaching in September 2015, to be examined.

Last November was also the first opportunity for candidates to resit the new GCSE qualifications in English language and Welsh language.

Regulator Qualifications Wales said it closely monitored the awarding of these qualifications and is content that the grade boundaries set by WJEC are appropriate and that the GCSE standard has been maintained.

Comparisons with previous sets of results can’t usefully be made owing to the different make up of students sitting the exams in November, the regulator said.

There were 54,845 entries for GCSEs in Wales in November 2017, which is 4.5% fewer compared to November 2016.

Total entries for reformed GCSE mathematics decreased in November 2017 by 1.7% compared to November 2016.

Reformed GCSE mathematics numeracy saw a larger decrease of 32.4%.

Qualifications Wales said: “Overall, the changes to the entry for GCSE mathematics and GCSE mathematics-numeracy this November compared to November 2016 make it difficult to make meaningful comparisons between the two sets of results.

“Each exam series has a different cohort of students, with a different overall profile of ability, sitting the examinations. The number of students sitting GCSE mathematicsnumeracy has changed significantly this November, when compared to November 2016.

“Also, some students were re-sitting their GCSE in mathematics or mathematics-numeracy this November, whereas in November 2016 all of the students entered were sitting for the first time. The awarding process where grade boundaries are established ensures that these factors are considered.”

There are no previous exam series against which to compare the results for the reformed GCSE English language and GCSE Welsh language resits.

The results for those show 47.8% got A* to C in English language and 52% got A* to C in Welsh language, Only 0.4% got an A* for English and 0.8% for Welsh.

Overall, 99% got A* to G in English and 99.4% A* to G for Welsh.