GCSE

(asked on 17th July 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost to (a) the public purse, (b) schools and (c) pupils of the introduction of new GCSE curricula and material relating to those curricula and the new grading system.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 20th July 2017

The independent qualifications regulator, Ofqual, has produced an impact assessment for the reforms which is available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20141110161452/http://ofqual.gov.uk/documents/regulatory-impact-assessment-on-reforms-to-gcses-from-2015/

This indicates that overall, schools interviewed thought that the cost impact of the reforms would be neutral for them. We do not anticipate any additional costs for pupils.

Ofqual spent approximately £370,000 during 2016-17 on testing and promoting understanding of the new grading arrangements with employers, parents, teachers and students and is planning to spend a further £82,000 this summer. The Department for Education has spent approximately £12,500 to date on communications about the GCSE reforms and is planning to spend a further £39,500 over the summer. All figures exclude VAT.

The wider costs of the reforms to the public purse form part of the Department for Education and Ofqual’s running costs and cannot be identified separately.

Reticulating Splines