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Curriculum, assessment and qualifications

 
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NAHT is working to ensure that the curriculum supports the learning, progress and success of all pupils. NAHT supports the principle that a broad and balanced curriculum promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils and prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.

NAHT is campaigning to: 

Support schools to provide a broad and balanced curriculum for their pupils

  • Challenge the government policy, including EBacc, which may narrow the curriculum
  • Enable and support schools to successfully deliver statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education
  • Lobby for improvements to government policy which supports schools to deliver inclusive education and fulfil their responsibilities under the public sector equality duty
  • Support schools to deliver effective careers education for all pupils
  • Support schools to deliver high-quality Religious Education to all pupils
  • Provide guidance, materials and information to support schools in educating pupils about environmental issues.

Ensure a valid and proportionate approach to statutory assessment in primary schools

  • Lobby the government to reconsider the introduction of the multiplication tables check
  • Lobby the government to ensure changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage and Early Learning Goals are appropriate and relevant for the early years sector
  • Influence the development and implementation of the reception baseline assessment
  • Support members to implement the new statutory assessment for pupils with SEND
  • Identify and challenge the STA over any impact on members of the contract change to deliver statutory assessment in the primary phase
  • Engage with the STA to influence changes and improvements to statutory assessment including moderation and maladministration
  • Campaign for KS2 SPAG to be made non-statutory and oppose any additional statutory testing in the primary phase
 

Ensure the KS4 and KS5 qualification framework and examination system is fit for purpose

  • Press the government, Ofqual and exam boards to ensure that reformed qualifications, both academic and vocational, meet the needs of all pupils and schools
  • Explore the issue of grade reliability, identifying solutions and improvements which are supported by members and pressing the government and Ofqual for appropriate action
  • Inform members of the latest developments in secondary assessment through engagement with Ofqual, JCQ and awarding organisations. 

2019 GCSE results statistics - England, Wales and Northern Ireland

2019 provisional national results for GCSEs have been published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Reforms are complete in Wales and those in England are complete with the exception of a few lesser taught languages. New GCSEs in Northern Ireland have been awarded for the first time, alongside other reformed GCSEs. The 9-1 grade scale in England, which was first introduced in 2017 to the phase one subjects, is now used by nearly all subjects in England. The grade scale for GCSEs reformed for Wales remains unchanged (A*-G). This year, A* in Northern Ireland has been recalibrated to align with the grade 9 standard in England. C* has also been introduced this year, to broadly align with the grade 5.

Attached are summaries of the data for England, Wales and Northern Ireland - a summary of the key points for overall UK results can be found below:

UK

  • Overall GCSE entries in the UK have increased slightly by 1.4% (from 5470076 to 5547447).
    • This is against a 1.5% increase in the 16-year-old population.
  • Overall results remain stable with small increases at grades 7/A (0.3 percentage point increase to 20.8%) and 4/C A (0.4 percentage point increase to 67.3%), with no change in the proportion of students achieving at least a grade 1/G (98.3%).
    • Females continue to outperform males at both the 7/A boundary (21.1% vs. 17.6%) and the 4/C boundary (71.7% vs. 62.9%), although the gap has narrowed at the 4/C boundary since last year.
  • Some subjects have seen large increases in entries such as: Art and Design (+9.5%); Computing (+7.2%); History (+7.1%); Business Studies (+4.5%); English (+4.4%) and English Literature (+3.8%); Science Double Award (+4.8%); Mathematics (+4.2%); MFLs[1] (+3.5%); and Geography (+3.4%).
  • Subjects that have seen large decreases in entries included: Engineering (- 31.1%); Design & Technology (-21.7%); and Music (-2.2%).

English

  • English Literature entries for 15-year olds (and under) increased by 17.9% this year.
  • Of those sixteen-year-olds taking English language, 70.2% achieved a 4/C compared to 69.6% last summer. For those aged 17 or above, the pass rate this year at 4/C, was just 31.9%, versus 34.2% last year.
  • For English Literature and Language, females continue to outperform males at the top grades.
    • English Literature: 26.5% of females achieved 7/A compared to 14.5% of males; the gap increased slightly by 0.2ppt
    • English: 18.7% of females achieved 7/A compared to 9.6% of males; the gap increased slightly by 0.2ppt

Maths

  • Maths entries for 15-year olds (and under) declined by 11.3%, whilst 17 and older candidate entries increased by 4.9%.
    • This may be due to a range of factors including changes in early entry policies in Wales, a continuation from last year of a dip in 15-year old entries (with students entered at 16 instead) and a slight increase in 17-year-old resits.
  • Of those 16-year-olds taking maths, 70.8% achieved a grade 4 compared to 70.1% last summer. For those aged 17 or above, the pass rate this year was just 22.3%, versus 23.7% last year.
  • Males continue to outperform females at 7/A (16.7% vs. 15.5%), although the gap has narrowed slightly, with the outcomes for females improving by 0.6ppt compared to only 0.1ppt for males.

Science

  • Science Double award entries increased by 4.8%, while individual Biology, Chemistry and Physics increased by 0.6%, 1.0% and 1.1% respectively.
  • The proportion of students achieving a 7/A increased by 0.8ppt in Biology and Chemistry and by 1.3ppt in Physics.
  • Females outperformed males at 7/A boundary in Biology (44.3% vs. 40.5%), Chemistry (45.3% vs. 43.0%) and Science: Double Award (8.8% vs. 6.8%) but males continue to outperform females in Physics (45.9% vs. 42.0%), although the gap has narrowed.
  • Computing entries increased by 7.2% overall, with female entries up by 14.0%, although they remain only 21.4% of the total entry.
    • Females continue to outperform males at the 7/A boundary (24.9% vs. 20.8%)
  • According to Ofqual, just under 4,500 students were ungraded on the higher tier this year, out of a total entry of over 140,000 (circa 3% of the entries). This follows Ofqual's decision not to have another year of an extended 'safety net' of 3-3.

Modern Foreign Languages

  • Total entries in MFL increased again this year by 3.0%, following a small rise in entries last year of 0.4%. However, there is variation within this:
    • French remains the most popular MFL at GCSE, with entries increasing by 3.2%
    • Spanish entries increased by 7.5%; exceeding the 100,000 barrier for the first time
    • However German entries declined by 3.9%
  • Outcomes for the main MFL subjects were relatively stable, with small improvements seen in German (up 0.7ppt at 7/A boundary, and 0.5ppt at the 4/C boundary), and a slight decrease in Spanish at 7/A boundary (down 0.4ppt)
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Read the full list of provisional national results here.
Country-specific GCSE result summaries can be found below.
 

[1] French, German & Spanish 

First published 05 September 2019

First published 03 August 2020
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