GCSE results are out – but is the system worth it?

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Hannah Wilkinson, Lecturer in Educational Psychology, University of Manchester

Many students rejoice when they find out their GCSE results. In 2025, 21.9% of grades awarded are at grade seven (previously A) or above. But others will be holding a piece of paper – or looking at a screen – that tells them they have failed to reach expected standards. This year, 32.6% of awarded grades were below the pass grade of four.

It is important to consider the potential impact of this failure, and examine whether these exams are effectively serving young people.

GCSEs were originally conceived as a criterion-referenced assessment. This means that that students’ performance would be measured against a fixed set of criteria, with the intention of being accessible and fair for all candidates. There would be no limit on, for instance, how many students could get a top grade.

However, the reality incorporates elements of a norm-referenced approach, whereby grades are standardised.

This means that grade boundaries are adjusted so that overall results generally align with the proportion of grades awarded at each level for a predetermined standard. This is applied to ensure consistency across years: to eliminate issues if exams are judged to be particularly “easy” or “difficult” in a given year. However, this process means that there will always be a percentage of students who fail because their performance is not judged to hit the grade four threshold for a pass mark.

Outside of the years when marking and results were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, on average, fewer than 70% of students reached the level required for a grade four pass mark, meaning that at least 30% of students always fail.

The expectation of failure can have negative consequences for students. In response to consistent failure, students can become helpless, seeing themselves as having less control over their future outcomes and attributing their failure to a lack of ability. Students who feel helpless are less likely to persist when they fail. Even in the face of success, helpless students are more likely to view this as a one off.

What’s more, a series of education reforms over the past four decades has turned GCSE education into an extremely competitive system.

Focus on academics

GCSEs were initially introduced in 1988 under the Education Reform Act. This was followed by the introduction of performance league tables in 1992, requiring schools to publish the number of students achieving five or more passes at GCSE. These reforms intended to transform schools into a competitive marketplace, with the aim of improving schools and student outcomes.

This change was followed by further reforms in 2015, which saw coursework and modular exams replaced with exams at the end of two years of study.

In a bid to focus schools on providing an academic curriculum, schools now also have to publish the number of students taking up the English baccalaureate: a set of subjects taken at GCSE which must include English language and literature, maths, the sciences, geography or history and a language. They must also publish their students’ average performance across these five subjects.

This means that students may be encouraged to study and take exams in subjects that don’t suit them and that they don’t enjoy.

The pressure on schools to perform well in these league tables can lead to them engaging in practices often referred to as “gaming the system”. These range from the more obvious (such as spending increased time on core subjects and exam preparation) to the downright dubious, such as lower test scorers being removed from taking exams in order to inflate average test scores.

Exams and wellbeing

There are also growing concerns around the impact of exams on students’ wellbeing. A recent survey by charity Young Minds found that 63% of 15 to 18-year-olds said they struggled to cope in the lead up to and during GCSE and A-level exams. The survey found that 74% of 15 to 18-year-olds think exams should be reformed to improve mental health. Childline, the counselling service for young people, have also raised concerns regarding the increase in calls relating to exams and revision stress.

The purpose of education

This high-pressure environment can also have a suffocating effect on curiosity in learning. In one memorable lesson during my research observing teachers and pupils in the GCSE classroom, I observed a student asking the teacher the first name of a historical figure he was discussing. “You won’t get any more marks for knowing their first name,” the teacher responded.

This example highlights the focus in classrooms on knowledge acquisition for the purpose of passing exams. This approach leaves little time for in-depth understandingor the development of higher-order cognitive skills, such as problem solving and critical thinking. Both employers and universities note that current exam system does not prepare young people for life beyond school. They have called for more focus on other skills such as independent and creative thinking and greater ability to collaborate.

What do students want?

In a research study with GCSE students, the teenagers in the study felt that a return to previous assessment methods would be beneficial: such as a number of smaller modular-based exams over the course of study, or a combination of coursework and exams, to spread the risk if something doesn’t go to plan.

The students also noted that the current system places heavy emphasis on remembering quotes, equations and formulae. A move towards open-book exams would mean moving away from rote learning and allowing a greater focus upon skills such as understanding and application, which are more relevant and useful for life beyond the classroom.

The potential negative influence of current exam processes on the mental health of young people and the lack of real-world skills this approach promotes calls into question the need for a further reform to GCSEs – as well as the need for greater consideration of young people’s voices in assessment policy.

If you are upset, disappointed, or worried about your future, you can talk with a Childline counsellor.

Hannah Wilkinson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. GCSE results are out – but is the system worth it? – https://theconversation.com/gcse-results-are-out-but-is-the-system-worth-it-261888