Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on today’s GCSE and VTQ results.
“Congratulations to students on their results, and to their teachers who have worked so tirelessly to prepare and support them for these examinations. This is the culmination of a great deal of hard work in often challenging circumstances and it is a huge achievement that so many young people will now progress with confidence onto courses in colleges and sixth forms.
“But we must recognise that this is not the story in England for a significant proportion of students who fall short of achieving at least a Grade 4 GCSE pass in English and maths, and so will be consigned to a remorseless treadmill of resits in post-16 education under rules drawn up by the last government. As this year’s results show, most of these students once again fall short of the Grade 4 benchmark in their resits. This is completely demoralising
“It is imperative that the government’s curriculum and assessment review considers how we can do better for these young people – and a good start would be to scrap the requirements which compel mass resits.
“Today’s results also show significant differences in regional outcomes for GCSEs in England, particularly between the results in London and the South East compared to the North and Midlands. This suggests that relative levels of prosperity and socioeconomic disadvantage continue to play a huge part in educational outcomes, and addressing these gaps must be a key priority for the new government working alongside the education sector.
“We have to do more to support our schools and colleges. Funding and teacher shortages, combined with post-pandemic issues around mental health, behaviour and attendance, have made circumstances particularly challenging. An improvement to school and college funding in general, and the special educational needs system in particular, is absolutely key to improving matters. The government must grasp this nettle in the autumn budget.”