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Education Select Committee's Report

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Education Select Committee's Report MEMORANDUM TO THE EDUCATION SELECT COMMITTEE Multiple Entry to GCSEs July 2013 Introduction 1. The Education Select Committee’s report on the administration of examinations for 15-19 year olds in England1 recommended that the Government should “ask Ofqual to gather data from the exam boards to enable it to identify the extent of multiple entry and then offer advice on whether, and what, action is needed to limit the practice”. 2. In response2, the Government stated “that further data on multiple entry would be helpful. The Department holds such information and is currently undertaking an analysis of the data. We will make the results of that work available to the Committee.” Approach 3. The Department has defined multiple entry as the practice of entering pupils for more than one GCSE or Level 1/2 Certificate (hereinafter referred to as ‘regulated IGCSE’) in the same GCSE subject up to the end of Key Stage 4. This includes pupils who were entered early for a GCSE followed by re-sits3, and entries to two or more specifications whether during the same, or a different, examination series. The Department has focused its analysis on GCSE English and mathematics because of their key role in the current secondary school accountability system. 4. The Department used data for pupils reaching the end of Key Stage 4 in 2011 and 2012. This enabled the Department to observe school behaviour in the transition to the new GCSEs in English and mathematics that were introduced in 2010 and in which the first awards were made in summer 2012. 5. Ofqual is undertaking a separate piece of research to quantify the use of multiple entry at unit – rather than whole qualification - level and is 11st Report - The administration of examinations for 15-19 year olds in England - Volume I, House of Commons, June 2012 22nd Special Report - The administration of examinations for 15-19 year olds in England: Responses from the Government and Ofqual to the First Report of the Committee, Session 2012-13, House of Commons, October 2012 3 The proportion of multiple entries which took place before the end of Key Stage 4 was 72% for English in 2012; and 67% for maths in 2012. This is a proportion of exam entries rather than of pupils with entries. Wherever multiple entries are referred to in this report, these include both early and end of Key Stage entries. 1 considering the impact of multiple entries on the standards and integrity of GCSEs. Ofqual will make its findings public in due course. Summary 6. This analysis shows that, even when controlling for lower average prior attainment at Key Stage 2 sub-level, multiple entrants achieve lower grades, on average, than single entrants. 7. As many multiple entrants are pupils who entered the subject early (those whose first entry in the subject took place before the summer of year 11), our analysis looked particularly at whether early entrants improve their grade as a result of multiple entry. It provides strong evidence for the practice known as ‘banking’, where pupils stop trying to improve their grade once they have achieved a C grade. Once a candidate had achieved a C grade they were much less likely to continue and re-take the subject than candidates who had yet to achieve a C grade. 8. The majority of those with C grades who did continue (67% for GCSE English and 63% for GCSE mathematics) failed to improve on their grade. At the same time, over 90% of pupils who became multiple entrants having entered early, and who achieved a C grade, appeared to have the potential for higher grades than they achieved4, irrespective of whether they improved their grade or not following multiple entry. 9. In the light of this analysis, the Department is increasingly concerned about the potential consequences for pupils’ progression to A level and beyond. The Government does not believe that continually sitting examinations is beneficial or motivating for pupils and will continue to discourage schools from adopting such strategies. 10. Changes have already been made to current GCSEs so that all external examinations must be taken at the end of the course. This applies to all GCSEs that will be completed in 2014. The reformed GCSEs that will be introduced, in some subjects, for first teaching from 2015 will also be linear. 11. The Government believes that the current school accountability framework, with a strong emphasis on ‘threshold’ measures, has encouraged schools to focus on borderline pupils, which is likely to have contributed to decisions to enter pupils early or more than once. The Government recently completed a consultation to improve accountability for secondary schools in England. The new proposed measures will improve the current system by rewarding schools more clearly for the important work they do with all pupils. 4 Based on their prior Key Stage 2 attainment 2 12. In light of this analysis, the Government will now consider what further action might be taken to discourage the practice of multiple entry. Background 13. New GCSEs in English and mathematics were introduced in 2010, with first awards made in summer 2012. These specifications are modular. For GCSE English, controlled assessment comprises 60% of the total marks. There is no controlled assessment in GCSE mathematics. 14. Multiple entry often follows on from early entry. The Department’s analysis of early entry showed that candidates who entered GCSE English and mathematics early performed worse overall than those who did not, even when taking account of re-sits.5 The research suggested that some pupils were being entered for GCSEs before they were ready, with potential consequences for their progression to A level and beyond. 15. The Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education (ACME) produced a position statement in 2011 on early and multiple entry to GCSE mathematics.6 It raised concerns about the increasing trend of early and multiple entry to GCSE mathematics, concluding that the practice has a negative effect on most students’ mathematical education, hindering their progression to a wide range of subjects post-16 and in Higher Education. 16. Earlier this year, Ofsted published a report on the practice of early entry.7 This found that its use has increased significantly in GCSE English and mathematics in the last few years, with limited use in other subjects. The survey raised concerns about the overall impact of early entry on the achievement and progress of students who had the potential to attain top grades at GCSE. Ofsted found that schools often used early entry as part of a strategy in which students who had attained a target grade would then drop the subject and use the time for other studies. However, it also found that some schools have used early entry intelligently and effectively as part of their wider work to raise standards. The new inspection framework, introduced in September 2012, makes clear that Ofsted will challenge the inappropriate use of early entry in schools. 17. Further evidence on the impact of early entry comes from Ofsted’s survey report on mathematics, which stated that the extensive use of early entry puts too much emphasis on attaining a grade C at the expense of adequate understanding and mastery of mathematics necessary to succeed at A level and beyond.8 Ofsted found that failure to stretch our 5 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-entry-to-gcse-examinations 6 Early and Multiple Entry to GCSE Mathematics, Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education, May 2011, http://www.acme-uk.org/news/news-items-repository/2011/5/position-paper-on-early-and- mutiple-entry-to-gcse-mathematics 7 Schools’ use of early entry to GCSE examinations, Ofsted, March 2013, http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/schools-use-of-early-entry-gcse-examinations 8 Mathematics: made to measure, Ofsted, May 2012, http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/mathematics- made-measure 3 most able pupils threatens the future supply of well-qualified mathematicians, scientists and engineers. Key Findings Extent of multiple entries by individual pupils 18. The extent of multiple entry, and the change between 2011 and 2012, differs between GCSE English and GCSE mathematics. 19. For GCSE English, multiple entrants accounted for almost 25% of pupils in 2011 but reduced to 7% in 2012: a. the majority of pupils entered just once in 2011 (75%) increasing significantly to 93% in 2012; b. one in five (128,500 pupils) entered twice in 2011, declining to one in twenty in 2012 (28,200 pupils); c. a small percentage of pupils entered three times (3% or 16,700 pupils) in 2011, down to 2% (11,000 pupils) in 2012; and d. tiny fractions of the cohort entered four or more times. Figure 1 – Frequency of entry to GCSE English 2011 2012 Number Number of Pupils Percentage Number of Pupils Percentage of Entries in English GCSE 1 448,300 75 552,900 93 2 128,500 22 28,200 5 3 16,700 3 11,000 2 4 400 0 1,100 0 5+ 100 0 300 0 Total 594,000 100 593,400 100 20. In GCSE mathematics, multiple entrants represented 28% of pupils in 2011, but rose to 41% in 2012: a. the majority of pupils entered just once in 2011 (72%) declining to 59% in 2012 b. the proportion that entered twice was 23% in 2011 (137,300 pupils) increasing to 26% (156,700 pupils) in 2012 c. 5% of pupils entered three times in 2011 (29,400) increasing to 11% (63,800) in 2012; and 4 d. only 1% (5,100 pupils) entered four times in 2011 rising to 3% (19,500 pupils) in 2012.
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