GCSE A-C passes fall for first time in exam history

The proportion of A-C grades at GCSE has dropped for the first time since the exam was introduced in the 1980s, figures published Thursday show, amid a row over marking.

Some teachers have raised concerns that some subjects, particularly English, have been scored too harshly as exam boards attempt to stop the year-on-year rise in grades and claims that GCSEs are becoming too easy.

As some 600,000 pupils received results Thursday, figures showed that 69.4 percent of all GCSE exams were graded with at least a C -- down 0.4 percentage points on last year.

It is the first time the A*-C pass rate has fallen since the first GCSE exams were introduced in 1988.

The number of top grades also fell slightly. Some 7.3 percent of entries were marked A*, down 0.5 percentage points on 2011, while 22.4 percent were handed at least an A grade, down 0.8 percentage points.

There was a decrease in the proportion of A*-C grades in the core subjects of English, maths and science, despite tougher targets this year.

Government targets stipulate that 40 percent of a school's pupils must get five A* to C grade GCSEs including English and maths -- up from 35 percent last year.

Teachers have raised particular concerns about the marking of English papers, saying many students received below expected grades. Some 63.9 percent of entries were given at least a C, compared to 65.4 percent last summer.

The general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), Brian Lightman, said there was "a lot of concern" among the union's members.

"We expected results to plateau because of the government taking steps to peg them to previous levels," said Mr Lightman.

"But we certainly didn't expect anything like this and schools have been taken by surprise.

"We've got some schools where teachers have been teaching the same course for years and suddenly the results are way below what they've always been before as the pass mark has been moved higher."

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), publishing the results, says the fall in A*-C passes in English was partly down to more candidates sitting the exam early, in the winter term, while in science more demanding standards played a key role.

Glenys Stacey, chief executive of the qualifications regulator Ofqual, told BBC Radio Four's Today programme: "Our job is make sure exam results are right. What we have done this year, and last year, is to hold the line on standards steady.

"If the qualification and the type of student is broadly the same, then results will be broadly the same.

"Any difference in results in English or other subjects will reflect differences in the make-up of the group taking the exam, in terms of the numbers or their abilities."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gcse-c-passes-fall-first-time-exam-history-090748121.html

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