English Language and Mathematics: GCSE

(asked on 17th January 2024) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of young people achieve a pass in (a) GCSE English, (b) GCSE maths, (c) Functional Skills Level 2 English and (d) Functional Skills Level 2 maths in each year group in 16-19 education by prior attainment at age 16.


Answered by
Damian Hinds Portrait
Damian Hinds
Minister of State (Education)
This question was answered on 24th January 2024

The department collects data on entries into GCSE and Functional Skills English and maths by students aged 16 to18 attending schools and colleges in England, including independent schools. Most students aged 16 to 18 enter below level 3 English and maths qualifications because they did not achieve a GCSE pass at grade 9 to 4 or equivalent during key stage 4, and so are required to continue to study those subjects under condition of funding rules. More information on condition of funding rules can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-funding-maths-and-english-condition-of-funding.

Data is published in the ‘A level and other 16 to 18 results’ national statistics release and provides the number of entries and pass rates in each year. A link to this publication is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results.

Tables 1 and 2 of the attached spreadsheet provide the data by the breakdowns requested. Data by year group is not available.

Note that a student may appear in the data more than once, for example if they entered exams both at the start of the academic year and in the following summer. Further, whilst the data shows many more entries by 16 to18 year olds in GCSEs versus Functional Skills at level 2, this to some extent follows differences in data collected by awarding organisations, where each recorded ‘entry’ in Functional Skills possibly reflects multiple assessment attempts. Local practice will vary and practices in large individual colleges can have impact on regional rates.

The department also publishes related data in the ‘Level 2 and 4 attainment by age 16 to 25’ national statistics release.

This tracks the attainment in English and maths for students in the mainstream state sector in year 11, which is the final year of secondary school, to age 19 (so 16 to 19), and includes data on achievement of 19 year olds in level 2 English or maths broken down by disadvantage status and prior attainment. More information can be accessed via the links below:

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