Pupils’ wait for GCSEs results is over at last
Explaining GCSEs to business
THOUSANDS OF pupils in Yorkshire will get their GCSE results this morning as new grades are awarded for the first time, with just a small proportion of entries expected to score the highest result.
In total, about 16,100 teenagers are likely to achieve a nine in maths and 10,700 in English language, out of hundreds of thousands of 16-year-olds in England entering for the two subjects, according to calculations.
Overall, it is understood that no more than half of those who would have scored an A* in these core subjects under traditional grading last summer will achieve the top score, following the deliberate move to change the system to allow more differentiation, particularly between the brightest candidates.
As teenagers were waking up to their results, school leaders warned that GCSE reforms were already causing teenagers more stress and anxiety, and this was likely to increase as more subjects switched to the new system.
Under the biggest shake-up of exams in England for a generation, A* to G grades are being replaced with a 9 to 1 system, with nine being the highest mark. English and maths are the first to move across, with other subjects following over the next two years.
The grading switch is part of wider reforms designed to make GCSEs more rigorous and challenging.
England’s exams regulator Ofqual has previously estimated that around two per cent of 16-year-old students in England will score a grade nine in GCSE
English language, while around three per cent of this group will get the top result in maths.
According to analysis using data on the provisional number of entries for Year 11 students in England for these two subjects, this would mean that about 16,129 are likely to get a 9 in maths, and about 10,724 will achieve this result in English language. Last year, four per cent of 16-year-olds in England scored an A* in English language, along with seven per cent in maths. It means that many teenagers who would have gained this highest possible grade last year will not do so this summer. This is deliberate, as there are now three top grades – 7, 8 and 9 – compared to two under the old system – A* and A -–with A* results now split into 8s and 9s.
Ofqual chief regulator Sally Collier said: “We have used the same tried-and-tested principle of comparable outcomes, as in previous years, to ensure that this first cohort of students is not disadvantaged. If a student receives a grade 7 today, they could have expected to have received a grade A last year. And if they get a grade 4, they could have expected a grade C in 2016.”
The Association of School and College Leaders secretary Geoff Barton said the new GCSEs are more challenging and there are more papers. “This is putting severe pressure on young people,” he said.
TODAY SHOULD be a day of celebration for all those young adults whose GCSE grades more than pass muster. Yet, just like last week’s A-levels, the results will be almost certainly overshadowed by politicians arguing about the merit of the reforms introduced by Michael Gove, the reduction in coursework and whether the new grading system is an accurate barometer of a candidate’s academic ability.
This matters. It’s not the fault of this cohort of the students that they’re ‘guinea pigs’ for these reforms. They’re also not to blame for the fact that exams in English and maths are being marked numerically – nine represents the highest mark and one the lowest – while most other subjects are retaining the tried and tested A* to E grading system until next summer.
Not only will people require a degree to make sense of the results, make valid comparisons and assess whether the class of 2017 outperformed previous years, but it’s vital that Education Secretary Justine Greening and Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, explain the new marking mechanism, and significance of changes, so pupils don’t miss out on opportunities, interviews, or even jobs because a convoluted mish-mash of qualifications on paper does not do justice to their qualities. This is one test that Ministers can’t afford to fail – irrespective of how their efforts are judged.