Developing a joined-up, research-informed approach to post-16 GCSE English and maths resits

REBECCA MORRIS, TOM PERRY AND DEBBIE GRACE, UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK, UK GCSE resits in England Colleagues across education will be aware of the importance of GCSE English and maths for students’ future educational and life opportunities, and also for schools in terms of performance measures such as Progress 8. For many students, however, the summer of Year 11 is not the end of their GCSE journey. Current government policy means that if young people do not achieve a grade 4 (equivalent to the old ‘C grade’) in English and maths, then they are required to continue studying these subjects in Key Stage 5 (age 16–18). Of these, most will ‘resit’ GCSE examinations in English, maths or both, sometimes multiple times. The small proportion of students who do not get entered for the GCSE may take functional skills assessments instead. The numbers involved are substantial. Last year, just 73.9 per cent and 61 per cent of students achieved a grade 4 or higher in English language and