Quarter of a million fewer GCSE’s will reach basic pass mark compared to last year, report reveals as students brace for record grades plunge

• Number of GCSEs with a standard pass or above is expected to drop by 280,000
• Expert says ‘many more will fall’ below grade 4 – the current passing grade
• Top grades are also expected to have a record fall of almost a quarter of a million

GCSE pupils are braced to receive failing grades, as more than a quarter of a million fewer passing grade 4s or above will be handed out this year.

Disappointment could be widespread as the number grades below a standard pass, anything lower than the equivalent of a C grade, given out is expected to drop by 280,000.

An education expert said and ‘many more’ students will fail and that the dreary predictions for GCSEs are expected as exam regulators try to return results to pre-pandemic levels.

Top grades are also set to fall by over 200,00 – the biggest plunge in history. The drop in pupils receiving at least an A or 7 will affect an estimated 75,000 children, a report has claimed.

Similarly, A-Levels fell back from pre-pandemic highs but remained above 2019 levels.

Nore than 250,000 fewer passing GCSE grades will given out this week. The Department for Education said that grades this week will be higher than in 2019 but lower than in 2021

In total more than half a million 15 and 16-year-olds will pick up their results on Thursday after exams were held for the first time since teacher-assessed grades were introduced during the Covid pandemic. 

Last year, the proportion of GCSE entries awarded top and passing grades surged to an all-time high after exams were cancelled for the second year in a row due to Covid-19.

But The Department for Education said: ‘In line with the plans set out by Ofqual, and as part of the transition back to pre-pandemic grading levels, GCSE grades this week will be higher than in 2019 but lower than in 2021.’

The number of students receiving pass marks has been steadily increasing for the last five years.

Overall GCSE results in 2021 were higher with 76.9 per cent getting grade 4s, compared to 2020, 75.9 per cent, according to finder.com.

When exams were last sat in 2019, 64.4 per cent of students taking GCSE English and Maths got a grade 4 or above.

An expert has predicted that grades will move back to around halfway between those of 2021 and 2019.

More than half a million 15 and 16-year-olds will pick up their results on Thursday after exams were held for the first time since the Covid pandemic

This year 75,000 fewer pupils will get the equivalent of As or A*s this year as the exams watchdog reins in grade inflation, analysis suggests.

Girls are expected to outperform boys in their GCSEs because they were less likely to neglect their studies during the lockdown in favour of PlayStation games, an education expert has said.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of education at Buckingham University, said that the pandemic had done little to close the gender gap. 

Prof Smithers said ‘In 2022, we can reasonably expect to see a drop in top grades, with many more failing to reach the pass level (C/4).

‘In England, the biggest percentage fall will be at Grade 9s and many more will fall below Grade 4.

‘We can take the A-level results as pointers. At A-level, the top grades were cut, but not as far as the Government was wanting, I suspect because high marks were scored in the easier exams and lower grades for higher marks is going to be difficult to defend on appeal.’

As with A-levels, extra help was provided for GCSE students with the return to exams, including more generous grading, advance information on topics, formulae and equation sheets for GCSE maths, physics and combined science exams.

Source: Read Full Article