The new GCSE’s in the UK were meant to address a number of issues that were of concern with the previous version of the GCSE’s. However this recent research from the Sutton Trust as reported on the BBC website raises a serious issue. Their research claims grades for disadvantaged pupils fell slightly, compared to their peers, by just over a quarter of a grade across nine subjects. These pupils were also less likely to get a 9 grade - with 1% achieving this compared to 5% of wealthier children.
The report - Making the Grade, by Professor Simon Burgess from Bristol University and Dave Thomson from FFT Education Datalab, assesses data from pupils at state-funded schools from 2016 to 2018.
Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said "The reality is that the students who struggle the most - many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds - have a very poor experience of the new GCSEs and leave school feeling demoralised about their prospects for onward progression to courses and careers.
"We are calling for an overhaul of GCSEs which improves the prospects of the forgotten third of students who currently fall short of achieving at least a grade 4 'standard pass' in GCSE English and maths."
Do you agree? Should more be done to reform syllabuses to help those from financially disadvantaged backgrounds?
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