GCSE results reveal biggest EVER pass-rate slump as girls stretch their lead over boys
More than 71 per cent of girls achieved a C or above – compared with 62 per cent of boys
GIRLS stretched their lead over boys to produce the widest GCSE gender gap in 14 years, results revealed yesterday as the top pass rate for the exams plunged.
More than 71 per cent of girls achieved a C or above – compared with 62 per cent of boys – the biggest gap since 2002.
It came as this year’s results showed the greatest ever dip in GCSE grades since the exams were launched in 1988.
The overall proportion of students getting a “good” A*- C pass across all subjects plummeted by 2.1 per cent to 66.9 per cent.
Experts blamed record numbers of low performing 17 year olds doing maths and English resits and strict
Government reforms designed to push up standards.
The push to get pupils to study a more academic curriculum means less able pupils tackling tougher subjects.
The figures released by the Joint Council for Qualifications for England, Wales and Northern Ireland also showed decline in the take up of creative subjects like music, drama and art.
Northern Ireland – who still have grammar schools and the 11 plus exam - produced outstanding results – outperforming England and Wales for the 15th year running.
Their results were the highest recorded since 2001.
Figures showed girls are now ahead of boys across all subjects at A*-C by 8.9 percentage points.
Female pupils have been ahead of boys every year since 1989 but their best performing subjects compared against boys were English, media and film studies, design and technology and art.
There were further falls in the number of pupils taking modern languages - with the numbers opting for French or German tailing off dramatically.
Exams analyst Professor Alan Smithers of the University of Buckingham said the drop in A*-C grades was the biggest since the creation of GCSEs in 1988 - and was unexpected.
He said: “The fall this year is larger than might have been expected. A*-C grades rose continuously from 1988 to 2011; since then the major fall has been from 2012 to 2013, down 1.3 percentage points from 69.8 to 68.1.”
He said the slump could be blamed on some schools concentrating on the new maths and English syllabuses which they are already teaching for next year’s exams.
The figures are a reversal of last week’s A-level results.
Almost nine per cent of male students achieved the very top grade, compared with just under eight per cent of females.
Andrew Hall, chief executive of exam board AQA, said: “Girls significantly outperform boys at GCSE, but when you get to A-level it reverses - it almost seems to evaporate.”
He put the differences down to maturity.
Schools minister Nick Gibb said yesterday the Government reforms gave pupils “wider opportunities” and “better prospects”.
But critics called on the Government to rethink its policy of forcing students to resit English and maths GCSE if they fail to get a C grade saying it was “ill-thought out” and not in the best interests of students.
Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Your chance of being Usain Bolt at 100 metres are fairly slim. So if you got an F last time round, your chances of passing with a C are fairly low.”
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This is the last year GCSE results will be scored with grades A* to G.
From next summer, pupils will take revamped courses in English language, English literature and maths, marked with numbers from 9 for the top-performers down to 1 for the weakest.
The reforms will be rolled out across another 17 subjects by summer 2018.
Next year’s change to GCSE grades
STUDENTS in England who began courses last September in maths, English and English literature will be graded from 9-1 rather than from A*-G when they get their results next year.
This new grading system is set to be rolled out across most other GCSE subjects by 2018.
Biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, religious studies, languages, music, geography and history courses starting this September will all be graded like this.
A third raft of subjects are also set to get the new grading system when they begin in 2017 and take exams in 2019 including ancient history, psychology, ICT and media studies.
Exam regulation body Ofqual says it expects about the same proportion of pupils who got Cs or above in the old system to achieve a 4 or higher in the new one.
The new courses are set to be far more exam based with coursework playing only a minor role in the interests of increasing rigour in the system.
Modules will be thrown out with pupils expected to study for two years before then taking exams rather than sitting them in blocks as they study.
The moves will also see the phasing out of foundation and higher-tier papers for children of varying abilities.
Welsh students will also see changes with new courses introduced in English language, Welsh language, English literature, Welsh literature, mathematics and numeracy and maths by WJEC.
The exams taken in Summer and November 2017 will feature these new qualifications and will no longer be comparable to their English counterparts according to the Welsh Government.
Northern Ireland is also reforming GCSEs but retaining the old grading system.
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