Learning Plus UK’s own research shows how vital English and Maths qualifications can be for a student’s career in further education. A 16- year old who gets five A*-C GCSEs, including English and Maths, has a 83% chance of getting an A level qualification by the age of 19. But that same youngster has only has a 57% chance of getting an A level if their 5 GCSEs did not include English and Maths.

 

What happens to these students who do not get the necessary qualifications? More often than not, they suffer the agony of resits, continuing to take the exam in the hope that they will one day get the grade. However, our research also showed that resits are not delivering the desired results for young people.

 

We looked at 5,000 students in London, who were all undertaking vocational courses, which included resits in English and Maths.

 

Sadly, the results do not make for good reading as 11% failed to even match their previous grade and 17% withdrew completely.

 

On a positive note, 52% of students with an original D grade in English achieved a C in their resit, but of those who got an E or F the first time round, just 3% achieved a grade C or above.

 

With the increased emphasis on English and Maths as the key to unlocking the door of future life chances, we need to ask ourselves what can be done?

A number of post-16 providers have rebranded resits and become pathfinders, with a higher level of resources, status and staff with specific responsibility for this area of teaching and learning. Some colleges are also looking at diagnostic tests to understand why a student hasn’t previously succeeded, as tackling the underlying weakness is often the key to getting higher grades.

 

But one of the key messages is that it takes time to achieve at English and Maths. Resitting too early just continues to re-enforce that feeling of failure, which does not help students get the level of self-confidence that they too can achieve.

 

Another key is setting the right target. Set the bar too high at post-16, and again, failure is a possibility, but set it too low and the student will not be stretched.

 

Learning Plus UK has more than five years’ experience of working with post-16 schools and colleges to help them ensure that young people achieve their potential. Through our online support, including our Achievement Comparison Tool, schools and colleges are able to set targets using the individual point scores at GCSE level and ensure that these are appropriate and tailored specifically to each individual. This means that young people have the chance to achieve those pesky GCSEs, get into further education and start their working lives with all the necessary skills and qualifications!