Commenting ahead of GCSE results day on Thursday, Geoff Barton,
General Secretary of the Association of School and College
Leaders, said:
“Our best wishes to all pupils picking up their GCSE and VTQ
results on Thursday, and to their teachers who have worked
phenomenally hard to support them during these past two very
challenging years of the global pandemic. As with A-levels, GCSE
grades will be generally lower than last year when exams were
cancelled and a different approach to assessment was used, but
they will be higher than in 2019 when exams last took place.
“The fact that grades will be lower than last year is no
reflection on the performance of pupils but the result of a
decision by the government and exam regulator Ofqual to begin
returning grades to the 2019 standard in two steps, with a midway
point between 2019 and 2021 this year before a full return to the
2019 standard planned next year.
“Schools and pupils have been affected to varying extents by the
pandemic and the consequent disruption to learning, and it is
likely that results will reflect these turbulent circumstances
and will be uneven. Where infection rates have been high across
the last two years, it is likely to have resulted in more staff
and pupil absence, in addition to the periods in which schools
were closed to most pupils. Despite the best efforts of schools
to support pupils with remote education and to plug learning
gaps, this situation will inevitably have had an impact on
learning. Schools have not been helped by the government’s
lacklustre and chaotic support for education recovery. It is
important to understand this year’s results at school and pupil
level in this context and we would urge Ofsted and Regional
Schools Commissioners in particular not to rush to judgements.
“The main purpose of GCSEs is to aid progression to post-16
education and training, and the vast majority of pupils will be
able to take their next step as planned. Where pupils are
disappointed with results we would advise them not to panic but
to speak to their teachers about the range of options available
to them. There are many excellent courses in colleges and sixth
forms which will suit their aspirations and interests.
“It is worrying to see that the number of GCSE entries to several
creative arts subjects, as well as design and technology, have
fallen this year – part of a long-term decline in these subjects.
This is driven by government performance measures which favour
traditional academic subjects at the expense of other subjects,
and funding pressures which make small classes difficult to
sustain.
“Schools now face huge extra cost pressures because of rising
energy costs and pay awards for which there is no additional
government funding. This will make it even more difficult to
sustain small-entry subjects and there is a danger that some of
these subjects will largely disappear from the state education
system and become the preserve only of families who are wealthy
enough to afford private schools and clubs. The government must
make state education a priority and fund it properly.”
Note: Statistics on GCSE entries are in ‘Provisional entries for
GCSE, AS and A level: summer 2022 exam series’. Ofqual. 26
May 2022.
