The proportion of post-16 students achieving a grade 4 or above in GCSE English and maths resits has fallen as entries have surged. In maths, 15.3 per cent of 219,135 learners aged 17 and over who resat the subject in England achieved a grade 4 or above this summer. That was down from 17.1 per cent last year, when the cohort was 6 per cent smaller at 206,732. The grade 4 and above pass rate was 21.2 per cent in 2019, before the pandemic. In English, 19.8 per cent of 187,558 post-16 students who resat the GCSE achieved at least a grade 4 this summer, down from 20.9 per cent last year when there were 175,118 entries. The English pass rate was 30.3 per cent in 2019. Despite the falling pass rates, the number of students securing a grade 4 or above increased marginally in English as the size of the cohort grew. A total of 37,136 students gained their level 2 English GCSE this summer after failing to do so at school, compared with 36,599 last year. But in maths, the number achieving a grade 4 or above fell, from 35,351 last year to 33,527 this summer, despite the cohort growing by 12,403 students. Pressure for reform The results come as the government continues to face pressure over its policy of requiring 16- to 19-year-olds without a grade 4 in English and maths to continue studying the subjects. The condition of funding rule, introduced in 2014, has been criticised by colleges for driving repeated GCSE resits. Education secretary Lucy Powell told The Times yesterday that GCSE results day had highlighted “one of the most pernicious examples of the education system setting kids up for a cycle of failure: the number constantly resitting English and maths”. She pointed to “stepping stone” qualifications now being developed as a way of improving outcomes for resit students. A consultation on new level 1 English and maths qualifications for 16- to 19-year-olds who leave school with a grade 2 or below closed in June. The qualifications were proposed last year by the independent curriculum and assessment review, led by Becky Francis, as a way of better preparing learners to achieve a grade 4 in their post-16 GCSE resits. Don’t ‘tinker at the edges of the system’ Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said today’s results showed that the current condition of funding policy was failing. “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,” he said. “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 not in employment, education or training (NEET) crisis it must grasp this nettle and rethink how we assess English and maths.”