Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the publication of level 2 results.
“Congratulations to students and their teachers on today’s level 2 results. These are very demanding qualifications and many young people will be celebrating fantastic achievements. It should be remembered that these young people experienced significant disruption earlier in their education because of the Covid-19 pandemic. That so many have done so well in their GCSEs and other level 2 qualifications is an example of triumph over adversity both for them and for their schools. We wish them every success for the next step in their education.
“However, a significant proportion of students continue to fall short of a grade 4 GCSE pass in English and maths both at the age of 16 and in subsequent resits in post-16 education where most face the miserable experience of falling short once again.
“This limits their education and career options and is very likely to be a factor in the large number of young people who end up not in employment, education or training (NEET).
“Notionally, the number of students achieving grade 4 and above can rise, but in reality it barely moves and is effectively baked into the system. And this year’s post-16 resit results reinforce the fact that the government policy of then force-feeding them a relentless diet of GCSE English and maths in post-16 education is simply not working.
“Tinkering at the edges of the qualification system will not solve this problem. As long as we continue to grade students in this way in these gateway subjects of English and maths we will continue to damage their future prospects. If the government is serious about tackling the NEET crisis it must grasp this nettle and rethink how we assess English and maths.
“This is not about reducing standards but ensuring that young people have the opportunity to demonstrate proficiency against a pre-determined standard rather than ranking them against one another.”