A review of the school curriculum will support changing the current “inflexible approach” to GCSE maths and English resits.
Professor Becky Francis, who is leading the curriculum and assessment review, told the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) conference that only around 50 of 3,400 17-year-olds who had achieved a grade 2 in GCSE maths went on to pass in the most recent round of retakes.
The review, commissioned by the Government, will make recommendations to support more young people to make good progress post-16, she added, and these will be reflected in the Government’s skills white paper, which is expected soon.
Professor Francis said the review will recommend more efforts to “narrow the pipeline” of young people not getting the grade 4 they need to pass their maths and English GCSEs when they are 16.
While the review will support the policy of young people continuing to study maths and English post-16, she added analysis points to a need for a “more nuanced, evidence-driven approach” to students retaking maths and English post-16, “rather than an inflexible approach”.
“Do you know that in 2024, of the 3,400 17-year-olds with a grade 2 in GCSE maths who were re-entered in November, only around 50 of them achieved a grade 4,” she told the conference. “That’s around 1.5% – the vast majority achieved another grade 2.
“The cost, both to young people’s morale and to the public purse, must be significant, so we’re making recommendations which we hope will better support more young people to make good progress post-16, and these will be reflected in the forthcoming skills white paper.”
Currently, students who do not achieve a grade 4 in maths and English GCSE at 16 are required to continue studying post-16 to pass the exams.
The policy is regularly criticised by sector leaders, and recently the Commons Education Select Committee said the policy is not working for the majority and urged the Government to change it.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said the mandatory retake policy “simply hasn’t worked” and is a “grinding experience” for students who continue to fall short that erodes their confidence.
“It is very clear that a new approach is needed and it is pleasing to hear that this is on the cards,” he added.
“The challenge will be to develop a policy which gives every student the best possible opportunity of a qualification of which they can be proud and provides pathways into higher education, apprenticeships and careers.”
NAHT school leaders’ union general secretary Paul Whiteman said more “appropriate and engaging alternatives to GCSEs in English and maths” are needed.
“Post-16 students who need to continue the subjects must be allowed to study for qualifications that suit their needs and ambitions, rather than defaulting to GCSE resits,” he added.
Professor Francis added that the white paper will also reflect the review’s analysis and recommendations on alternative pathways to A-levels and T-levels for students post-16.
“Our interim report was clear that we see the need for a third vocational pathway alongside the academic and technical pathways offered by A-levels and T-levels,” she said.
“Our final report will share details of our vision for the nature of these vocational qualifications. We even came up with a name, no prizes for guessing what it is,” she added.
The curriculum review’s final report is expected to be published in the next few weeks.
Also at the conference, Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver spoke about the introduction of the watchdog’s new report cards in November after one word judgments for schools were scrapped last year.
Teaching unions have criticised Ofsted’s inspection reforms, and said many headteachers say the new system will be worse for their wellbeing.
School leaders’ union NAHT launched legal action against Ofsted over the potential impact of their inspection proposals earlier this year, and the ASCL said it will explore options for taking legal action.
Sir Martyn told academy trust leaders at the conference “we now need to really get behind” the reforms together.
“Now, just a few weeks ago, I was driving around the North East, not too far from where I live, and I was aware still of the one word judgment banners proudly displayed outside schools, nurseries, further education providers,” he said.
“It really brings home the scale of the change that we’re making and the scale of what stands to be achieved.”
To achieve this, the education system must “lean into this transformation rather than simply trying to map the past onto the present”, he said.
“I know it can be comforting to try and find correlations with the old system, but this is not about resting now on our laurels.”
