GCSE performance statistics were
published today including data which showed the percentage of
pupils achieving a Grade 5 ‘strong pass’ or above in English and
maths. Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of
School and College Leaders, said:
“Today’s figures show us that 57% of pupils in state-funded
schools did not achieve the government’s new measure of a ‘strong
pass’ or above in GCSE English and maths. What they no longer
show is the number of pupils who didn’t achieve at least the
‘standard pass’ of a Grade 4, but we know this is likely to be
over one-third.
“As a society, we must surely question a system which sends out
such a negative message to so many young people. While we
understand that the government is making a distinction between
Grade 5 as a measure of school performance and Grade 4 as the
standard required for onward progression for students, we fear
that this is an extremely confusing message for young people,
their parents and employers.
“The result is that many young people will have felt deflated and
uncertain after taking this summer’s exams despite having worked
their hardest. Those who did not achieve a Grade 4 also face the
grind of compulsory resits.
“What the public perhaps doesn’t realise is that it is
predestined that about one third of young people will fail to
achieve at least a Grade 4. This is because the percentage of
pupils attaining each grade is more or less fixed by a system
known as comparable outcomes, in which the distribution of grades
is guided by what cohorts of similar ability achieved in previous
years.
“This system has the virtue of ensuring that pupils don’t lose
out from one year to the next by changes in exams, but it ensures
we will always have a forgotten third. We have to do better for
these young people. It cannot be right that we have a system
which leaves so many students feeling crushed rather than proud.
We have to find a way of better recognising their abilities.
“ASCL has launched a commission of inquiry which will initially
focus on English, and which will look at how we might better
reflect the achievements of all our young people.
“The commission is made up largely of practising English teachers
and school and college leaders, and is chaired by educationist
and writer Roy Blatchford. It has held an initial meeting and
will submit a final report in 2019, which we will discuss with
the Department for Education and with exams regulator Ofqual.”
