Government defends new GCSE stepping stone qualification amid retake slump
Education Secretary Lucy Powell has defended the introduction of a new level-one qualification, arguing it offers a better alternative to the current cycle of repeated exams for the 620,000 students who failed to reach grade 4 in maths or English.
The UK government has moved to defend its proposal for a new “stepping stone” qualification for Year 11 students who fail to achieve a grade 4 in GCSE maths or English. Education Secretary Lucy Powell stated that the initiative is designed to replace what she described as a “hamster wheel” of repeated examinations, providing a stronger foundation for further study, apprenticeships, or training places. The plan, originally outlined in last year’s skills white paper, targets approximately 620,000 students in England who did not meet the grade 4 benchmark this year.
Despite overall GCSE results in England reaching record highs, with seven in 10 of 16-year-olds achieving pass grades in maths and English, the success rate for retakes has declined significantly. Data from this summer indicates that only one in seven students passed maths on a retake, while only one in six managed to pass English. Consequently, the majority of these students will be required to retake the exams next year if they remain in education or training, a trend that has drawn scrutiny from education leaders.
Critics have raised concerns that the current policy of mandatory retakes is both demotivating and ineffective. Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, argued that the government’s approach of “force-feeding” students a relentless diet of GCSE English and maths in post-16 education is not working. He warned that without a rethink of how these gateway subjects are assessed, the number of young people not in education, employment, or training (Neet) is likely to increase.
Professor Lee Elliot Major, a professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, cautioned that the new qualification requires a “strong fairness test” to prevent the creation of a two-tier system. He noted that with around a third of young people not achieving the grade 4 benchmark in both subjects, there is a risk that pupils from under-resourced backgrounds could be disproportionately directed onto lower-level routes, creating different pathways but not different ceilings.
Paul Whiteman, head of the National Association of Head Teachers, echoed these sentiments, calling for an end to the policy that forces students into “dispiriting rounds” of repeated resits. He suggested that more appropriate and engaging alternatives to GCSEs in English and maths at key stage 4 are needed to better suit student needs and aspirations. The Department for Education’s consultation currently positions the new “stepping stone” qualification as preparation for a later GCSE resit, meaning young people will still face multiple examinations while they remain in education.
The broader context of this year’s results shows a mixed picture across the UK nations. In England, 24% of boys achieved grade 7 or above in maths, a new high, while 20.5% of girls reached the same level. However, girls maintained their lead in top grades across all subjects, with 25.5% of their exam entries awarded grade 7 or above compared with 20.7% of boys. In Northern Ireland, 31.5% of entries by 16-year-olds gained A or grade 7 and above, while in Wales, 20.2% of grades for 16-year-olds were awarded A or better. Direct comparisons remain difficult due to devolved education policies and different grading scales, with England using a 9 to 1 scale and other nations continuing to use letter grades.
