The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) has announced today (25 August 2016) the GCSE results for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. There has been a big change in entry patterns and results due to the number of government changes and reforms to the way that students are assessed at GCSE level.Commenting on the publication of today’s GCSE results, Michael Turner, JCQ Director General said, “There is significant movement in this year’s entries, which impacts on results and creates a very complex national picture. We see shifts not only between subjects, but also across qualifications and year groups. This is driven by several factors, including performance measures and resit policies in England.”

Good news for GCSE STEM subjects

There is good news to report in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects from this year's GCSE results. Entries to science and maths subjects by students aged 16 have increased by 6.3 per cent compared to 2015. In a statement today, Nick Gibb, School Standards Minister said that the government is, "committed to making Britain the best place in the world to study STEM subjects - helping to boost the UK economy in the long term."This year has also seen a significant increase in the number of entries by students studying GCSE computer science, from 35,414 in 2015 to 62,454 in 2016. The number of girls studying computer science has more than doubled since last year.

GCSE: overall pass rate dips in 2016

Overall pas rates have dipped and the number of A*-C grades awarded has fallen. A*- C passes have shown a decline of 2.1 percentage points to 66.9 per cent, although the number of entries are up, despite a fall in the 16 year old population.In the sciences there has been an increase in entries but a drop in results. At grade A*-C, Biology is down 0.4 percentage points, Chemistry down 0.9 percentage points and Physics down 1.1 percentage points.

GCSE Maths: Entries on the up

Entries for GCSE Maths have increased by almost 33 per cent compared with 2015. The JCQ ascribes this to the new government policy in England requiring all 16-19 year old students to study the subject until they achieve at least a grade C.The government also has decreed that retakes of the GCSEs will not count in school performance tables, which has led to a massive reduction in the number of early entries for the exam. The ‘first entry counts’ policy has driven down entries by 15 year olds, from 33,484 in 2015 to 13,209 in 2016.The number of 16 year olds achieving grades A*-C in Maths has increased marginally (1.4 per cent). The JCQ explains that this may be attributed to fewer, less able, 15 year olds who are now typically waiting until they are 16 to take their Mathematics GCSE rather than taking them early with the option of re-sitting later.

GCSE English

There has been slight decrease in the number of entries for GCSE English but, overall, outcomes for English have risen at A* by 0.2 percentage points to 3.3 per cent, declined at A*-A by 0.9 percentage points to 13.7 per cent and down 5.2 percentage points at A*-C to 60.2 per cent.The JCQ believes that the number of 17 years old passes at Maths and English is likely to increase over the coming years due to the policy requirement for students in England to continue studying English and Maths 
post 16 if they haven’t achieved at least a grade C.

GCSE Modern Foreign Languages: Spanish sees the biggest rises

French and German continue to be the most popular foreign languages at GCSE level, but Spanish has shown a surge of interest amongst GCSE students with a rise of almost 28 per cent over the last five years.

GCSE reform

2016 marks the last year before the start of major government GCSE reform and the way in which student performance is reflected in the school performance tables.From next year a new system will be phased in which will see GCSEs graded by numbers – from 9 (the highest) to 1 (the lowest) rather than the current system of A* - E.“I would like to offer huge congratulations to all students picking up their results today,” said Michael Turner, JCQ Director General. “It is also important to congratulate and thank their teachers, tens of thousands of whom each year use their expertise to mark the millions of examination papers.”

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