ASCL calls on government to scrap resit policy

Commenting on today’s written statement on revised subject content for English and maths functional skills qualifications, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

“This would be a good moment for the government to scrap its policy of making large numbers of post-16 students resit GCSEs in English and maths. Instead of insisting that all students with a Grade 3 in these subjects must retake them, the government should give them the option of either having another try at GCSE or studying for a functional skills qualification.

“It is morale-sapping for young people to be compelled to retake GCSEs that they have already found a real struggle – and large numbers do not improve their grades. The fact that the government is today extolling the virtues of the revised functional skills qualifications surely makes it even more obvious that these are a perfectly valid alternative for young people and they should be allowed to take these courses instead of GCSEs.”