Aligning curriculum and assessment reform with teaching for mastery in FE GCSE Resit/FSQ Maths
Charlie Stripp and Emma Bell explore how curriculum and assessment reform could transform the maths experience of post-16 learners
22/11/2024
Each year around 175,000i students resit GCSE Mathematics post 16. Despite the determination and effort of teachers in post-16 settings, only about a quarter of these students will have achieved a grade 4 in a GCSE Maths qualification – the widely recognised ‘pass’ grade – by age 19. This stark statistic highlights a flaw in our system, leaving thousands of students without the mathematical knowledge and skills they need for everyday life and to progress to further training and study.
In this blog post, NCETM Director Charlie Stripp and Emma Bell, NCETM’s Director for Post-16 GCSE and Functional Skills Qualifications, explore how curriculum and assessment reform could transform the maths experience of these post-16 learners.
Post-16 Level 1 and 2 maths
Proficiency in maths is vital for success in everyday life and work, and to support further education in other disciplines. For students who have not achieved proficiency in fundamental maths by age 16, it’s crucial that they continue with maths post-16.
Our system deems that all students should aim to achieve at least a Level 2 pass in maths (equivalent to a grade 4 in GCSE Maths) by age 19.
The vast majority of post-16 students without a Level 2 pass in GCSE Maths resit GCSE Maths post-16. The remainder study for Functional Skills Maths qualificationsii or other accredited qualifications that are designed to provide evidence of students’ maths knowledge and skills relevant to the workplace and support progression to further study.
‘Condition of funding’ requirement for post-16
The current DfE guidance on post-16 ‘condition of funding’iii states:
‘Achieving a level 2 qualification in both maths and English helps students to progress to further study, training and skilled employment. The maths and English condition of funding ensures that all 16 to 19 year olds have the best chance of achieving this standard and get the necessary support to do so. This is a study requirement and institutions are encouraged to work with students to decide when they are ready to sit an exam.’
This means that institutions offering post-16 education will not be funded for students who have not achieved Level 2 passes in both maths and English unless these students are being supported to work towards achieving them post-16.
In 2024, more than 170,000 young people failed to achieve a grade 4 in GCSE Maths at age 16 and so were required to continue with maths post-16iv.
Around three quartersv of these students are taught in Further Education Colleges.
GCSE Maths resit or Functional Skills?
Entry Level and Level 1 Functional Skills qualifications, and other accredited maths qualifications, can work well as qualifications in their own right and as stepping stones towards level 2, supporting students to master fundamental maths and helping to boost their confidence. However, the goal of these students is to achieve a Level 2 pass in maths.
Students with a grade 3 in GCSE Maths at age 16 are required by the condition of funding rules to resit GCSE Maths, rather than take Level 2 Functional Skills or other accredited Level 2 maths qualificationsvi. Functional Skills and other Level 2 maths qualifications score less in accountability measures than GCSEsvii and are pass/fail, so if a student takes Functional Skills at Level 2 and does not pass, they are not deemed to have made any progress. Also, there is a consensus that it is more difficult to pass Level 2 Functional Skills Maths than to achieve a grade 4 in GCSE Mathematics. Another factor is that there can be a perception that a GCSE qualification has a higher status than a Functional Skills qualification. For these reasons, the vast majority of students (well over 90%viii) who take a Level 2 maths qualification post-16 resit GCSE Maths.
Problems with GCSE Mathematics resit
The low grade boundariesix and high-stakes nature of GCSE Maths exams at age 16 means that many students who do not achieve a Level 2 pass at age 16 feel like failures and are not well-motivated to continue with maths. Only around a quarter of those resitting GCSE maths achieve a Level 2 pass by age 19.
Success rates by age 19 for students without a standard pass are outlined belowx. Grading standards in 2020, 2021 and 2022 were eased due to the Covid-19 pandemic; 2018/19 and 2022/23 therefore present a more typical picture – one of under-achievement in maths. While success rates have improved, they remain low and fall below those of English.
Furthermore, in 2022/23, while 45% of those achieving a grade 3 pre-16 went on to achieve a grade 4 by age 19, the proportions were around 13% for those achieving grade 2 pre-16 and 3% for those with grade 1 or U pre-16.
The positive from this that in 2022/23 (most recent available data) 25.5%xi of those who had not achieved a Level 2 pass in maths by age 16 had done so by age 19. This is around 40,000 students and achieving Level 2 pass will open doors for them in education and/or employment. The downside is that around 130,000 each year have had their perceived failure reinforced.
For some students who do not achieve a Level 2 pass in maths by age 16, resitting GCSE Maths is a good option. However, the aim should be for all young people who do not achieve a Level 2 pass by age 16 to improve their knowledge, skills and confidence with fundamental maths post-16. Post-16 maths qualifications should enable these students to demonstrate what they know and can do. As discussed in the previous NCETM Director’s blog on assessment, the current GCSE Maths does not achieve this.
These problems mean that many GCSE Maths resit students form the view that the only purpose of learning maths is to pass an exam, failing to appreciate its beauty as a discipline in its own right or its value as a powerful transferable skill that will help them succeed in life and work.
Potential improvements
Changes such as those proposed for secondary maths curriculum and assessment reform in the two previous NCETM Director’s blog posts (here and here) could improve the situation. Such changes could support more students to master the fundamental maths knowledge and skills needed to achieve a Level 2 pass by age 16 and enable students attaining lower grades to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in maths.
The educational charity MEI has developed a proposal for a post-16 maths GCSE qualification that is specifically designed to improve the mathematical learning of those students who are not well served by re-sitting the current GCSE Mathsxii. The proposal is for a mathematically rigorous qualification that has a more ‘adult’ feel. The curriculum focuses directly on students mastering fundamental maths and explicitly highlights applications in life and work. The intention is that students see the qualification as directly relevant to preparing them for adult life, rather than repeating what they did at school. It has a built-in ‘stepping stone’ assessment that aims to boost students’ confidence and enable them to demonstrate progress, even if they do not go on to achieve a Level 2 pass in the full GCSE.
Conclusion
The current approach to post-16 maths education is failing many of the young people who don’t achieve a grade 4 in GCSE Maths by age 16. Despite the dedication and efforts of teachers in post-16 settings, success rates remain unacceptably low. The system isn’t just underperforming—it’s leaving a lasting impact on the confidence and future prospects of thousands of students.
GCSE Maths resit is not working wellxiii and reforms are needed to improve the post-16 maths experience of these students. Their mathematical confidence and attainment could be improved by:
- reforming the post-16 Level 2 maths curriculum, to elevate and emphasise the relevance of maths to everyday life and work, inspiring students with its practical value
- re-structuring the post-16 Level 2 maths assessment to include accredited stepping stones to help build students’ confidence
- designing assessments that give students the opportunity to demonstrate their mathematical knowledge and skills and recognise their achievement.
i AOC post-16 GCSE English and maths Results briefing: August 2024
ii Maths Functional Skills: subject content - Learning aims and outcomes at Levels 1 and 2
iii 16 to 19 funding: maths and English condition of funding
v Explore education statistics and data
vi 16 to 19 funding: maths and English condition of funding
vii 16 to 18 accountability measures: technical guidance
viii Explore education statistics and data
ix Aligning curriculum and assessment reform with teaching for mastery in secondary maths (part 2)
x Explore education statistics and data
xi Level 2 and 3 attainment age 16 to 25, academic year 2022/23