Score of 15pc secures pupils a pass in their maths test

Question setters accused of ‘fooling themselves’ by setting lowest ever pass mark to make system fair

THE new GCSE maths paper has set its lowest ever pass mark, with some students needing to answer just 15 per cent of questions correctly to achieve the equivalent of a grade C.

Leading exam boards have drastically lowered the number of marks required to pass, as experts warn that people in the education establishment are “fooling themselves” into thinking students have done better than they actually did.

Maths is one of three reformed GCSES, which are marked in numerical grades of 9 to 1 rather than A* to G. They are designed to separate the very highest achievers by introducing more grades at the top end.

The new grades were part of a package of reforms introduced by Michael Gove when he was education secretary, which include toughening up syllabuses and cutting down on coursework in an attempt to raise academic standards.

To prevent students from being penalised for taking the new, harder exams this year, Ofqual ensured that the proportion of children awarded pass marks was roughly the same as last year through a process it called “comparative outcomes”.

But experts have warned that artificially lowering the pass rates to ensure consistency between different cohorts creates a flattering “illusion”.

Prof Alan Smithers, director of the centre of education and employment at Buckingham University, said: “What is happening is that this year the exams are harder, and Ofqual has wanted to keep the grade pattern comparable with previous years, so it has had to lower the number of marks required to get C. These grades will lead to us fooling ourselves into assuming that young people are doing much better than they actually are. Ofqual are creating an illusion. The ‘comparative outcomes’ approach was brought in to squeeze out inflation. Now it is used to prop up grades that would otherwise be much lower.”

Last year, 35 per cent was required for a pass in maths with Edexcel, while this year the pass mark has dropped to 17 per cent. Students taking a maths GCSE with OCR last year needed 30.5 per cent to get a pass, compared with 15.3 per cent this year. Under AQA, the pass mark for maths was 35.4 per cent last year, and it has fallen to 19.2 per cent this year. Overall, the average pass mark needed was 18 per cent.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that the new, tougher exams had put young people under “great pressure” and created widespread “stress and anxiety”.

He added: “We are increasingly concerned about their well-being and we will be raising this issue with the Department for Education as a matter of urgency.”

This year, 68.9 per cent of students achieved a pass at grade four or above in maths, up from 61.5 per cent who secured the equivalent score in the exam the previous year.

Candidates who achieved 52 per cent in the higher tier maths exam secured a grade 7 – equivalent to an A – while those scoring at least 79 per cent were awarded the top grade 9.

Overall, a fifth (20 per cent) of students across all subjects received an “A” at 7 and above, down 0.5 percentage points on last year. In 2011, the pass rate for the top grades stood at 23.2 per cent.

This is the sixth year in a row where top grades have dropped and is the lowest proportion since 2007, when 19.5 per cent of entries achieved top grades.

An Ofqual spokesman said: “The higher tier paper caters for students who might be looking to achieve a grade 4 right up to a grade 9.

“It starts with grade 4 level questions. In contrast, the foundation tier paper caters for students seeking to achieve a grade 1 through to grade 5. The different grade boundaries on the two papers reflect that.

“These boundaries were set using a combination of statistics and examiner judgment. We are confident that they reflect an appropriate standard of performance.”