A grade GCSE results reach record high

The rise in A and A* grades brings them up to 23.2 per cent of all exams taken, from 22.6 per cent last year. The overall pass rate – where grades are above a C – also rose, for the 23rd year in a row, to seven out of ten exams.

More than one-in-four girls entries were awarded an A or A* compared to just under a fifth of boys. This is the opposite of what was seen in last week’s A-level results, where boys were closing the gap in top grades.

Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the gap could be due to a “lack of maturity” among boys. He said: “At A-level boys are clearly very focused on the grades they need for university entry. Boys will focus on a means to an end. At GCSE perhaps that sort of maturity that girls have at that stage is not quite there with the boys and they can’t see the obvious reason to aim for the A*”

State schools see improving results

The Local Schools Network, an education campaign group, has analysed the results and found a narrowing of the gap between state schools and their private counterparts. The percentage of grades in the state sector that were A or A* rose from 18.3 per cent to 20.02 percent, while the proportion in private schools fell from 53.5 per cent to 51.7 per cent.

State schools also saw the percentage that were C and above went up from 66.2 per cent to 68 per cent.

Henry Stewart is co-founder of the Local Schools Network and a governor at a school in Hackney, east London. He told Channel 4 News that he hoped people would change their views about the state education system: “There are immensely frustrating stereotypes about private schools being good and state schools being bad and it’s not true at all. There has been a lot of investment in education and it’s paying off. I go into our local school and the level of teaching is fantastic, I wish I could have gone to such a creative and inspired school.

“Politicians need to talk up state schools not talk them down. They seem much more interested in pillorying our dedicated teachers.”

History and languages: decline and fall?

The results, for around 650,000 teenagers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland also show the latest trends in subject choice. This year sees an increase in pupils taking individual sciences but a continuing trend of a fall in numbers taking history, geography and modern languages.

Some commentators have blamed recent data published by the Department of Education showing that 159 state secondary schools didn’t enter a single pupil for a history exam last summer.

Currently history is on the National Curriculum and must be studied up to the age of 14. Pupils can then drop it when they start their GCSEs. Concerns that students are focusing on ‘soft’ subjects have already led to discussions within the Coalition government about introducing the ‘English Baccalaureate’

Paula Kitching is spokeswoman for the Historical Association, a charity that promotes the study of history in schools.

She told Channel 4 News that the decline in children taking history at GCSE is very worrying.

She said: “History widens the mind and for that reason alone it is valuable. It gives young people a sense of why a country is what it is, how a society is what it is and helps them interpret the world we have today.

She explained that by the time children reach 14 and make their choices, the damage has been done by a system which doesn’t encourage a love of the subject: “The teaching is very good, some of the best in the country. What we have a problem with is the time dedicated to it.”

Over the past two years that the association has figures for, there has been a reduction of time given to history, with some schools teaching as little as 45 minutes a week.

She thinks this is because it is seen as too challenging a subject: “Children like history but it is often made very difficult for them to choose it at GCSE. It is seen as too difficult and kids are given softer subjects. It’s a rigorous subject and rightly so, you can’t be a historian without rigour. You aren’t guarunteed A to C grades as you are with other, softer subjects.”

There will be a class divide if these trends are not reversed. Paula Kitching

“Why should those children who are doing more vocational subjects be denied an understanding of history? There will be a class divide as certainly it is the independent sschools who are allowed to pursue these subjects and it’s schools which have problems that are pushing children away from it. There is not currently a divide, but there could be if these trends are not reversed,” she added.

Languages have also dropped in popularity. Entries for French and German fell again this year, as did Spanish. History entries were down around 2,700 from last year and Geography entries dropped by 13,800.

Jim Sinclair, director of the Joint Council for Qualifications, congratulated students on their results. He said: “The rise of biology, physics and chemistry is welcome news, as is in the increased performance in maths and English. However the continuing decline of modern foreign languages and the growing divide between boys and girls at the top grades are worrying trends.”

French showed the largest overall drop, with entries down 13.2 per cent from last year, making the five year decline nearly 30 per cent. German fell by the same amount and the fall in Spanish was the first since 2006.