New GCSE 9-1 grading expectations

The Secretary of State for Education clarified the expectations for pupil and school performance with the introduction of the new GCSE 9-1 grading scale, that starts with English and maths in 2017. In response, Catherine Sezen, Senior Policy Manager at the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: “It is useful to finally have clarity over the difference between a 4 and 5. This will give guidance to colleges on entry requirements and GCSE resit policy and to universities and employers for their entry and job role requirements. However, we have concerns that some organisations and companies could look to raise this to a grade 5 ”strong pass” to show their rigour.”