By Gavin Mackintosh-
The pass rate in 2019 G.C.S.e exams improved this year despite the exams being tougher. Pass rates were as high as 67.3% in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – up 0.4 percentage points on last year.
The percentage of papers given a top grade -7 or A /A* rose 0.3 percentage points to 20.8% on 2018. As over 750,000 teenagers received their GCSE results in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, exam boards and exam regulators deliberately maintained standards in order not to disadvantage pupil sitting new exams. Exam boards made notable adjustments to grade boundaries during the marking process, taken account of papers with the predicted ability of the group of students sitting the exams.
The problem with adjustment making is that it means the grades do not actually reflect the performance of the students in the exams. In another sense, it makes the new standard well known to future pupils and parents, but it does not do justice to the essence of tougher papers unless the exams are marked in future to accurately reflect how pupils have performed. In the short run, it is still a smart exercise because it takes account of the long term damage it can do to the future of students who would have been shocked by the jump in standards, but prepares futures students and schools to make the jump in preparation and performance for future exams.
G.C.S.E exams provide a standard for assessing the ability of students at the end of their secondary school years, and prepares those who want to pursue A levels after that. Students have to achieve an equivalent of four C’s to qualify for A levels, (A 5 or 4 )which are much tougher and sets a clear path to University after that.
The new numerical grading system is being phased in over the course of four years in England. This kicked off with the core compulsory subjects – maths and English GCSEs – two years ago.The following summer, 2018, saw the roll out of 9-1 exams in the vast majority of core subjects, such as the humanities and the sciences.
A 5 is a strong pass, whilst a 4 is a weak pass, with a 6, representating a B, a 7 an A, and an 8 or 9,representing an A *
Image: PA