GCSE pass rates FALL in first year of new ‘number’ grades as girls get more top results than boys

MINISTERS heralded yesterday’s new GCSE grades as the death knell of years of dumbing down the qualification, after the number of pupils getting top results fell to the lowest in a decade.

The number of entries across England, Wales and Northern Ireland scoring at least an A - or a 7 under the new numerical grading system - falling by 0.5 per cent to 20 per cent and the lowest since 2007.

And the number achieving a standard pass - a C or a 4 in the new system - fell by 0.6 per cent to 66.3 per cent.

Schools minister Nick Gibb said the results were proof the Government’s reforms were “translating into higher standards”.

But a row exploded at the same time when it emerged students taking the higher maths GCSE paper needed to score just 18 per cent win a standard pass, nearly half the 35 per cent needed to get the same grade last year.

Students in the lower tier Maths GCSE needed to score just 11 per cent to get a Grade 1 - equivalent of the old “G” and classed as a “pass”.

Teachers hit out at the low pass mark, with one describing it as “bloody pathetic”.

Writing on an online teaching blog, they suggested: “Maybe we should forget grading of any sort and just give the results as a percentage.”

But exam boards defended the grade boundaries - insisting this year’s exams were much tougher than last year’s and said straightforward comparisons were “not accurate”.

It came after the biggest shake-up of GCSEs in three decades. Maths, English Language and English

Literature scored under the tougher new 1-9 grading system - designed by former Education Secretary Michael Gove to make GCSEs more challenging and identify the brightest pupils by ending the “prizes for all” culture.

The reforms saw pupils tested more in end of year exams rather than coursework and experts predicted the shift could help close the gulf between girls and boys.

Academics believe boys perform better when they can “cram” in revision in the weeks before the exam while girls fare better when they submit homework throughout the course.

SIMPLY THE TEST The new GCSE grades explained – what do the 1-9 equivalents mean?

The remaining subjects were scored under the old A-G system but will be replaced with the numerical system over the next two years.

Some 51,257 grade 9s were awarded to the brightest pupils under the new numerical system.

Just over 2,000 pupils scored a clean sweep of top marks in maths, English Language and English Literature - only 0.4 per cent of the half a million students who sat the exams.

Girls picked up six in ten of the very top “grade 9” marks in the reformed GCSEs yesterday - despite predictions that the changes would close the gender gap.

Around 30,000 of the 51,000 gold standard 9 grades achieved in maths, English Language and English Literature went to girls - compared to 21,000 - or 40 per cent - going to boys.

The gulf was even wider in English Language - with treble the number of grade nines going to girls.

And in English Literature 12,323 girls got the top mark - more than double the 5,205 going to boys.

They also closed the lead boys had in maths - with 8,204 scoring 9s compared to 11,409 boys. Overall, around 30,000 of the per cent of the “9” scores went to girls, compared with around 40 per cent for boys.

This was far lower than the 1.1 per cent of pupils who got straight A*s in these subjects last year - around 6,500.

It will make it easier for colleges and universities to pick out the very best-performing pupils.

Mr Gibb said yesterday’s results showed the start of the fruits of Mr Gove’s reforms.

He said: “The government’s new gold-standard GCSEs in English and maths have been benchmarked against the best in the world, raising academic standards for pupils.

“These reforms represent another step in our drive to raise standards, so that pupils have the knowledge and skills they need to compete in a global workplace.”

But Tory donor Charlie Mullins hit out at the “bonkers” changes to the grading system - warning that it will damage students and business as they struggle to understand the new grades and also warned it wouldn’t stop grade inflation.

He blasted: “After today’s changes the system is definitely worse at serving its real customers, our kids and businesses. The educationalists and Michael Gove might be feeling pleased with themselves, but for businesses things got harder, and that means those sitting GCSE exams are also losers.”

Mr Mullins added: “By changing the system you only stop grade inflation for one year. It’s like the government deciding to get rid of the pound because there’s too much inflation. So they burn all the notes and print a new one called a ‘New Pound’. Does inflation stop? Course it doesn’t it just begins again from a new starting point.”