The Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed it is taking action to reduce the number of compulsory GCSE exam resits in England, following research that found the policy damages teenagers' mental wellbeing.
UCL study links resits to lower wellbeing
A study by academics at University College London (UCL) compared the mental wellbeing of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who failed to reach a grade 4 or equivalent in maths or English GCSEs. Researchers found that only those in England, where resits are mandatory, showed significantly lower wellbeing.
Robbie Maris, a research fellow at UCL and one of the authors, said: “Some [resitting] students will not turn up for their exams, they won’t enter them or they will drop out of education – these are the kids at highest risk of dropping out of education and becoming Neets.”
Maris added: “It could be leading to further disengagement, which is a worrying thing. People need to pay more attention to this, because if you demotivate or demoralise young people it puts them at risk of dropping out of the education system entirely.”
England's policy singled out
The study highlighted that the negative impact was unique to England. “We see no impact really at all for failing English and maths in Wales or Northern Ireland but in England there’s a relatively large negative impact,” said Maris. “This is strong evidence that it’s something to do with England’s policy setting that is generating these impacts.”
In response to the findings, the Labour Party government has issued a statement committing to changes. The DfE said: “We know that resitting exams repeatedly without improving grades can be demoralising, which is why we’re taking action to break the endless cycle of resits.”
New qualifications and support
The DfE outlined its planned reforms, including new 16-19 English and maths qualifications that will properly prepare students before they resit their GCSE. The department said changes to the accountability framework will support this and ensure students only sit an exam when they are ready to progress.
Additionally, the government has guaranteed that students will receive at least 100 hours of teaching per subject, backed by extra funding and free teacher training, so they progress with a genuine chance of success.
