Insights into GCSE resists published

New research from the Education Policy Institute (EPI) found that disadvantaged students are, on average, one-fifth of a grade behind in English and one-eighth of a grade behind in maths when resitting GCSEs, in a report funded by Pearson, “English and Maths Resists: Drivers of Success”.

Resit exams, introduced in 2014, were brought in to boost literacy and numeracy so that young people are better prepared for work and further study. This new report looks at what helps and hinders the approximate one-third of students in England who must retake English and maths each year.

There are several key findings from the report, notably that the South West is the worst-performing region overall, while there are a cluster of top-performing institutions in the North West. The English and maths resist results of students in the North West are 0.1 grades higher than the average for students with similar Key Stage 4 results students across the country.

Disadvantage status, gender and ethnicity drives disparity in resit results further, as well as motivation, engagement, and attendance. Unauthorised absences in Year 11 foreshadow poorer resit attainment, indicating that the factors driving absences before age 16 continue post-16 and continue to affect academic performance. 

Furthermore, the time of the resists can affect performance. While November resists can be beneficial to individual students, providers that enter more students for these exams achieve, on average, lower progress, likely reflecting a drop in motivation for those who don’t pass the November exams.

The report, therefore, recommends several recommendations to resist providers, such as introducing a 16-19 Student Premium to close the disadvantage gap, prioritising student-staff relationships at the start of the term, and refining institutions’ metrics of performance.