Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 11 April 2012.

A best practice report on apprenticeships for young people launched by Ofsted today has found that those who had completed work experience, course tasters or vocational study were more likely to make good progress in their apprenticeship than those starting straight from school without it.

The best practice report also found that good relationships between employers and trainers were crucially important in capturing evidence of apprentices’ skills.

The National Director for Learning and Skills Matthew Coffey said:

“There has been much concern lately about the quality of apprenticeships. When looking at the national picture we can see that around 70% of apprenticeships are good or outstanding but more needs to be done to improve provision further. The Apprenticeships for young people best practice report will provide a vast pool of knowledge and examples on how to deliver apprenticeships successfully and will act as a useful guide for trainers, assessors and educational leaders wishing to improve.

“When preparing post-16s for apprenticeships schools need to provide meaningful work experience. While the majority of learners are completing their apprenticeships around a quarter are dropping out. It is clear that more work experience, vocational study and course tasters are needed to ensure learners are on the right apprenticeship for them and that they understand the demands of work.”

Apprenticeships have a key role in the government’s strategy to develop the skills of the workforce and to promote the growth and rebalancing of the nation’s economy. The government’s ambition that all young people will participate in learning up to the age of 18 will rely critically on the sector’s expertise in designing and delivering high quality programmes, including pre-apprenticeships and intermediate and advanced apprenticeships.

As seen in this best practice report it is important for employers and teachers to work together and understand how the apprenticeship is delivered so learners can show evidence and be readily assessed on both their practical and theoretical skills.

Work experience in the area that interested the young person was seen as a positive force in equipping young people with an appropriate work ethic and basic employment skills. Despite the benefits of work experience, the employers in the survey said that the number of students they could accommodate on placements was restricted. This was because too many local schools tended to ask for placements during the same short period at the end of the academic year.

Providers and employers felt that the most important attributes of a potential apprentice were the right attitude and commitment to employment.

Employers and trainers who worked together and had a good understanding of how the apprenticeship was delivered were better placed to help learners capture evidence of the skills they learnt during their apprenticeship. This way they had a wide base of evidence to link their workplace training with the training they had done with their provider, marrying both their practical and theoretical skills.

The most effective teaching was well planned, engaged learners and enabled them to put quickly into practice what they learnt in theory lessons. The strong vocational backgrounds of the staff together with small group sizes ensured good and sometimes outstanding skills development.

Providers surveyed in this best practice report said that good training in key and functional skills such as English and maths was seen as more relevant by young people when it was put into context and used in relation to the skills associated with the young person’s apprenticeship. Linking key or functional skills training to the area of learning being studied meant that young apprentices did not view it as more of the same ‘English and maths’ they studied at school and could see the real benefits of improving these skills. Those who had not done well at school said that they could see the point of mathematics in particular when they would be using it as part of their jobs.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 5 April 2012.

National Careers Service

Combining face to face to face local advice with a new interactive website, the new National Careers Service will:

• Provide information and advice for approximately 370,000 young people through the use of the helpline and website.
• Offer face to face advice to 700,000 adults each year in a range of locations in local communities.
• Provide detailed sector by sector labour market information so people can discover which industries are growing in their area.
• Provide tools such as a CV builder and a Skills Health Check on the website to help people identify their skills strengths and gaps.
• Allow people to open a Lifelong Learning Account, which gives them clear information and advice on skills, careers and financial support in a single, personalised online space.

John Hayes said:

“The National Careers Service, universally available to people at all stages of their careers, has the very best interactive tools on its website and the highest-quality advisers, committed to the noble cause of helping others fulfil their aspirations.

“Making available the right advice at the right time and in the right places is to strike a blow for social mobility, social cohesion and social justice – a society that encourages people from wherever they start to journey to the destination of their dreams.”

Model turned Chef, Lorraine Pascale is an Ambassador for the service. Speaking from the launch she said:

“After modelling, choosing my next career move was a big decision. I knew I wanted to find something that I was really passionate about, but I tried courses in hypnotherapy, auto repair and interior design before I found the thing that really makes me tick: cooking.

“Having independent careers advice can really help you find the thing you want to do. I’d encourage everyone to make the most of the National Careers Service to find out how to take their career forward, and realise their ambitions.”

Her view was echoed by Record Producer Pete Waterman. He said:

“I know from my own experience that it’s never too late to learn a new skill.

“I learnt to read and write much later in life than many people, but this opened up a whole new world for me.

“It’s one of the reasons why I’m so passionate about helping people to get the skills they need to fulfil their ambitions.”

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 30 March 2012.

An Ofsted report launched today looking at art, craft and design education in schools and colleges has found that after getting off to a confident early start, pupils’ progress slowed during primary school and was no better than satisfactory at the start of secondary school.

The report, ‘Making a mark: art, craft and design 2008-2011’, shows that weaknesses in the teaching of drawing have not been addressed since Ofsted’s last report. Too few pupils developed creativity through confident drawing. Limited provision for teachers’ professional development meant that less than a quarter of teachers surveyed participated in subject-specific training in the year before their inspection.

Only 2 out of 5 primary schools and 3 out of 5 secondary schools provided good or better education in art, craft and design, the main short coming with the remainder being inconsistency in provision. The report says that opportunities available out of school, such as visits to art galleries, are not made clear enough to pupils, parents and carers. It recommends that these opportunities and other good practice should be accessible to all.

Ofsted Director of Education, Jean Humphrys, said:

Children’s ability to appreciate and interpret what they observe, communicate what they think and feel, or make what they imagine and invent, is influenced by the quality of their art, craft and design education.

We found that children often began well, drawing adventurously and imaginatively at the very start of their education, but too few made consistently good enough progress to flourish creatively, especially boys. This was masked by their enjoyment of the subject even when teaching was barely satisfactory.

I would like to see teachers getting better access to professional development. I want schools to build on pupils’ experiences and creative development in their early years more effectively in primary and secondary school.

The quality of the curriculum had improved since Ofsted’s previous survey. The schools inspected for the report typically had broadened curriculum provision to promote greater inclusion.

The best work inspectors saw in schools and colleges was characterised by a breadth of drawing media used for a range of purposes such as recording, experimenting, analysing, and developing ideas. They found that good skills in drawing, a fundamental subject skill, underpinned good achievement in later secondary school and post-16 education.

An increase in photography courses and crafts-based approaches had improved boys’ participation and achievement. For example, in 11 of the 86 secondary schools visited, photography courses had improved boys’ participation and performance. But there is still more to do to close the gap with girls’ high attainment in the subject.

In the 14 schools and nine colleges visited where provision was outstanding, best practice was promoted by energetic subject leaders who ensured that the exciting world of art, craft and design was reflected in and beyond the classroom. Their impact was reflected in work in art galleries; self-motivated pupils, outside lessons, strong teamwork, vibrant displays and challenging exhibitions of work.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 28 March 2012.

Almost 400,000 persistently absent children missed at least a month of school, figures reveal today.

The statistics for the 2010/11 school year also show that children on free school meals, or those with special educational needs, were around three times more likely to be persistently absent.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said persistent absence was a serious problem. Much of the work children miss when they are off school is never made up, leaving them at a considerable disadvantage to their peers.

There is clear evidence of a link between poor attendance at school and low levels of achievement. Figures from 2009/10 show that:

• Of pupils who miss more than 50 per cent of school, only three per cent manage to achieve five A* to Cs, including English and maths.
• Of pupils who miss between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of school, only 35 per cent manage to achieve five A* to C GCSEs, including English and maths.
• Of pupils who miss less than five per cent of school, 73 per cent achieve five A* to Cs, including English and maths.

A child is defined as persistently absent if they miss 15 per cent or more of school time. Previously, children who missed 20 per cent of school were considered persistent absentees. The Government lowered the threshold so schools could step in to tackle absence sooner – before the problem really takes hold.

Schools and local authorities have a range of strategies and sanctions open to them to tackle the problem. Penalty notices can be issued to parents for unauthorised absences. Department for Education figures, also published today, show that 32,641 notices were issued last year but that 13,629 of those went unpaid or were withdrawn.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb welcomed the downward trend in absence but said he remained concerned about the impact of persistent absence on children’s attainment.

He said:

A hard core of almost 400,000 pupils still missed at least a month of school. We should not underestimate the impact of this on their future prospects.

The effect that poor attendance at school can have on a child’s education can be permanent and damaging. Children who attend school regularly are four times more likely to achieve five or more good GCSEs, including English and Maths, than those who are persistently absent.

We have asked Charlie Taylor to carry out a review on attendance and have lowered the persistent absence threshold, so schools tackle the problem earlier. We are determined to tackle absence before it causes long-term disadvantage.

Overall pupil absence in schools in England continued to fall. The overall absence rate decreased from six per cent in 2009/10 to 5.8 per cent in 2010/11.

More than a million pupils (15.8 per cent) missed half a day or more of school per week, equating to 10 per cent of school time missed.

Authorised absence has fallen to 4.7 per cent in 2010/11 from five per cent in 2009/10.

Unauthorised absence has increased to 1.1 per cent – a rise of 0.1 of a percentage point on 2009/10. The rate of unauthorised absence has changed very little over the last five years.

Term-time holidays remain a major reason for absence and in 2010/11 increased to 9.5 per cent of overall absence, from 9.3 per cent the previous year. Illness continues to be the most common reason for absence in schools, accounting for 59 per cent.

The Government’s Expert Adviser on behaviour, Charlie Taylor, who is carrying out an independent review of attendance in schools, said:

Schools are aware of the consequences of poor attendance on their pupils’ attainment. Some schools go to great lengths to tackle attendance issues and to see the absence rates decreasing is very promising. But as these figures show there is yet more work to be done to reduce the number of pupils who are still persistently absent.

The earlier schools address poor attendance patterns, the less likely it is that they will become a long term issue. The best primary schools realise this and take a rigorous approach to poor attendance from the very start of school life.

He added:

Schools can issue penalty notices to parents whose children persistently miss lessons. But when about 40 per cent of fines are unpaid or withdrawn, it shows the current system is not working.

Ofsted allows for flexibility around the inspection of attendance. The individual circumstances of pupils with good reason to be off school will not affect the final judgment i.e. long term absence on medical grounds. Schools should also not be penalised for the absence of genuinely sick children.

Ofsted will continue to take into account the number of pupils over the ‘persistently absent’ threshold when looking at a school’s performance on attendance.

Local authority breakdown

Local authorities with the most persistent absence

Local Authority	Percentage of children who are persistently absent
Nottingham	9.7
Liverpool	9.6
Kingston upon Hull	9.1
Knowsley	9.1
Newcastle upon Tyne	8.8
Middlesborough	8.8
Blackpool	8.7
Bristol	8.4
Sandwell	8.4
Wolverhampton	8.0

Local authorities with the least persistent absence

Local Authority	Percentage of children who are persistently absent
City of London	2.2
Rutland	3.8
Isles of Scilly	3.8
Westminster	4.2
Kingston upon Thames	4.3
Wokingham	4.4
Bracknell Forest	4.5
Bexley	4.6
Windsor and Maidenhead	4.6
North Lincolnshire	4.7

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 27 March 2012.

A slimmed down and more focused Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) for children aged from birth to 5-year-olds was today published by Children’s Minister Sarah Teather.

The new EYFS, which will take effect from 1 September 2012, focuses on getting children ready for education and increasing the attainment of all children, particularly those from deprived backgrounds.

The government also today pledges to go further. Where there are examples of regulation and paperwork that are not necessary to safeguard children, drive up quality or promote child development, they will be removed.

The revised curriculum reduces the number of early learning goals from 69 to 17, gives more focus to the main areas of learning that are most essential for children’s healthy development and simplifies assessment at age 5. It also provides earlier intervention for children who need extra help with a progress check at age 2.

The government has reduced paperwork for professionals to allow them to exercise their judgement, for example by removing the requirement for written risk assessments for all activities.

Children’s Minister Sarah Teather said:

What really matters is making sure a child is able to start school ready to learn, able to make friends and play, ready to ask for what they need and say what they think. These are critical foundations for really getting the best out of school.

It’s vital we have the right framework to support high quality early years education. Our changes, including the progress check at age 2, will support early years professionals and families to give children the best possible start in life.

People working in the early years, teachers, parents, and other professionals support our proposals, which keep the best of the existing framework but slim it down.

This is the first part of our reforms to the early years. Where we find examples of regulation and paperwork that are not necessary to safeguard children, drive up quality or promote child development, we will remove them. We will continue to help practitioners to focus on children’s healthy development.

The reformed EYFS builds on the independent advice of Dame Clare Tickell. Dame Clare Tickell said:

I am very happy to endorse the new EYFS. It closely follows my recommendations, building on the strengths of the current framework and making key improvements in response to the concerns of many people working in the sector.

There is a compelling reason for reforming the EYFS while retaining its overall shape and scope: the evidence is clear that there is a strong positive link between high quality early education and children’s healthy progress through school and into adulthood. To secure that link, and to ensure that all children grow-up healthy, safe, and resilient, and develop the ability and curiosity to learn, we need the EYFS.

Together with a more flexible free early education entitlement and new streamlined inspection arrangements, the new framework is an integral part of the government’s wider vision to free professionals to focus on their interaction with children.

Last summer, the government asked Professor Cathy Nutbrown to consider how we might strengthen the early years workforce. Her report is due in June, and the government will carefully consider her recommendations – along with international evidence on staffing levels and qualifications – as we continue to promote early years provision that is high quality and cost effective to parents.

People working in the early years will get additional guidance and information so they feel confident to deliver the new EYFS. And a summary of the EYFS will be available for parents so they know what their child will be learning and what they should expect from their child’s early years setting.

The coalition government is committed to investing in the early years and is expanding free childcare to many 2-year-olds as well as all 3- and 4-year-olds. The new EYFS will ensure that good quality early learning benefits all children, as the government believes this can make a real difference to success in later life.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 22 March 2012.

Around 74,000 children have missed out on a place at their first-choice secondary school, official figures reveal today.

That is around 5,000 fewer than last year. Schools Minister Nick Gibb welcomed the improvement but said that too many – around one in seven – would still have to attend a secondary school this September that was not top of their list.

The statistics show the secondary school offers made to more than 503,000 children by 151 local authorities in England on National Offer Day, March 1.

They show that nationally:

• 85.3 per cent of pupils were offered a place at their first-choice school.
• 95.9 per cent of pupils were offered a place at one of their top three preferred schools.
• The North East continues to have the highest percentage of first preference offers at 95.1 per cent.
• London continues to have the lowest percentage of first preferences at 67.2 per cent, though this is up 1.3 percentage points on 2011.

This year there were around 8,500 fewer children applying for a place at secondary school compared to 2011. The total number of places available remained broadly the same.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

I am pleased that year-on-year more pupils are being offered a place at their preferred school. Unfortunately, whilst progress is being made, we are still some way short of making this a reality for all pupils. Around 74,000 children are still unable to attend the secondary school they want.

Parents are faced with an extremely competitive and stressful process for securing a place for their children. We want to ease this pressure by creating more good school places, which is the driver behind all our reforms to the education system.

The new admissions code will make it easier for the best schools to create more places. We have given teachers the power to curb bad behaviour, enabling them to concentrate on teaching. Academies and Free Schools have given parents more choice of good school places and their innovative approach to education encourages other schools to raise academic standards.

We are focusing on tackling underperformance in those schools that parents seek to avoid in their list of preferences.

New admissions and appeals code

The new admissions and appeals codes came into force in February this year following overwhelming support from parents. The new codes are simpler, fairer and less bureaucratic and the changes will go a long way in giving parents more choice.

Under the new admissions code, good schools will be allowed to increase the number of places they can offer. Free Schools and Academies will be able to prioritise pupils from the poorest backgrounds, ensuring they have more opportunities to benefit from innovative approaches to teaching.

The new appeals code has made it easier for parents to contest admissions decisions. They now have 20 school days in which to appeal, compared with 10 under the previous codes.

Notes to editors:

1. The statistics can be found on the Department for Education’s website.
2. The admissions code came into force on 1 February 2012. Admissions for the September 2013 intake will be the first to be operated under the new codes.
3. A new “national offer day” for primary school will be introduced on 16 April 2014, ending the complexity and lack of clarity of the current system. Currently different admissions authorities release offers on different days. This can confuse and frustrate parents, especially those making applications for places in different local authorities.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 15 March 2012.

Addressing a group of outstanding teachers and literacy experts in London he will recognise the improvements that have been made, but say national progress on literacy has stalled and the country is being overtaken by other leading nations.

Sir Michael will say that one in five children do not achieve the expected literacy levels by the end of primary school – 100,000 pupils last year alone – rising to one in three pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. One in seven adults, as many as five million people, lack basic literacy skills.

The problem is evidenced by an Ofsted report launched today, Moving English Forward which has found that while in many schools English teaching is effective and pupils make good progress, standards in English are not high enough and, since 2008, there has been no overall improvement in primary pupils’ learning.

Speaking at Thomas Jones School, Ladbroke Grove, Sir Michael is expected to say:

There can be no more important subject than English. It is at the heart of our culture and literacy skills are crucial to pupils’ learning for all subjects. Yet too many pupils fall behind in their literacy early on. In most cases, if they can’t read securely at seven they struggle to catch up as they progress through their school careers. As a result, too many young adults lack the functional skills to make their way in the modern world. We are no longer a leading country in terms of our literacy performance: others are doing better.

We don’t need more research or more headline-grabbing initiatives which can’t be sustained. Good leadership is the key to good literacy in schools. Above all, this means being passionate about high standards of literacy for every single pupil, and creating a no-excuses culture both for pupils and for staff.

I am confident we can get to grips with this issue. I am determined that Ofsted will focus more sharply on literacy in our inspections, and I am proposing ten specific steps to raise national standards in literacy.

Sir Michael will emphasise that strong leadership is the key to good literacy in school. This means investing in and leading the professional development of staff in the systematic teaching of phonics; carefully tracking every pupil’s progress in literacy, especially at transition between the Key Stages; and structured intervention when pupils start to fall behind.

He will note that even achieving the current benchmark at the end of primary school is no guarantee of success. Last year 45% of pupils who achieved the lower end of level 4 at age 11 did not achieve a Grade C in their GCSE English.

Therefore the ten steps to raise literacy standards includes the recommendation that the government considers whether the end of primary school target of Level 4 is sufficiently high to provide an adequate foundation for success at secondary school.

Schools should report to parents on their child’s reading age alongside information on national curriculum levels. From September, Ofsted will prioritise for inspection schools with the lowest achievement levels in literacy.

Ofsted will reinforce and further embed its present inspection practice of hearing children read. Schools’ assessment systems will be inspected to ensure that careful monitoring and effective intervention take place.

In colleges and work-based learning, Ofsted will give even greater emphasis to the inspection of literacy skills, as part of the inspection of programmes of study.

Ofsted will sharpen its focus on phonics in routine inspections of all initial teacher education provision – primary, secondary and further education. It is unlikely that any provider of primary initial teacher education will be judged outstanding unless the quality of its phonics training is also outstanding.

In addition to routine inspections, Ofsted will also start a series of unannounced inspections focused solely on the training of phonics teaching in providers of primary initial teacher education, which could trigger a full inspection.

Ofsted will publish a detailed survey of what works best in secondary schools to improve literacy across the curriculum.

Welcoming Ofsted’s English report at the literacy round table event today, the Director of the National Literacy Trust, Jonathan Douglas, said:

‘Addressing the barriers to raising literacy standards must be a top priority for schools, communities and employers. A focus on reading, writing, speaking and listening is essential across all subjects and we support the Chief Inspector in his call to renew a national drive for higher standards and greater engagement with parents.’

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 15 March 2012.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb today announced a new national award scheme to recognise the top achievers in every secondary school in England – and those showing great potential.

He said that the ‘Dux’ – Latin for leader or champion – would help raise the aspirations of all pupils, including those from less affluent backgrounds, to go to university, including our top higher education institutions. A similar scheme, also called Dux, already exists in schools in Scotland.

The award, open to all maintained secondary schools, will see teachers selecting a Year 9 pupil as their Dux. They will be rewarded with a visit to one of the 20 current Russell Group universities.

The Russell Group represents leading UK universities which are committed to maintaining high-quality research, outstanding teaching and education, and excellent links with business and the public sector.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

This is an opportunity for schools to celebrate success, and to develop and reward high performing pupils.

Teachers may decide to choose pupils who might not be at the top of the class but who have outstanding potential to become high achievers. These could include children whose families may traditionally not have gone to higher education. They may wrongly assume that university is something ‘other people’ do.

Visiting any of these great educational institutions, and seeing first-hand the possibilities that exist there, will open pupils’ eyes to an exciting world in which they can not only take part, but thrive.

Nick Gibb added:

Our world-class universities are for all those with good qualifications and real promise – not just the few. They already do a great deal to increase access to higher education and run extensive outreach programmes offering a wide range of opportunities for school pupils.

This is about ensuring that schools are playing their part in promoting excellence and in supporting pupils, including from disadvantaged backgrounds, to aim for prestigious universities.

I am delighted that so many leading universities are committed to the programme.

Dr Wendy Piatt, Director General of the Russell Group, said:

Russell Group universities already pump millions into a range of schemes to attract young people from non-traditional backgrounds. Many of our universities run successful summer schools and work with local schools – including those where there is little history of pupils progressing to research-intensive universities.

Too few pupils from some state schools get the right grades in the right subjects to apply to leading universities but there is also evidence that even with good grades state school students are much less likely to apply to top universities than those at equivalent independent schools. So we hope this scheme will help raise the aspirations not only of Dux winners but all other bright teenagers at their schools and make sure they are thinking about their options at a younger age.

We are delighted to be offering bright prospective students the opportunity to come and meet our students and lecturers and have taster sessions. All of our universities look forward to welcoming the winners and their teachers and helping to build long term working relationships so that all young people – whatever their background or school type – know that a Russell Group university could be within their grasp.

We’re ready to offer all top achievers – whether or not they win the Dux – the chance of a place: we need their teachers or advisors to persuade them to apply. Wherever you’re from, with the right grades, attitude and potential, you have a good chance of getting into a Russell Group university. So if there are pupils out there who don’t manage to win but are still interested we would urge them to find out about general open days and other activities for school pupils’ on university websites.

Similar awards already exist in a number of other countries, including Scotland, Australia, New Zealand and the US.

Case study

At Imperial College London, Dux prize winners will be given the chance to take part in three activities around the future of energy. They will work with current students and researchers on carbon capture and storage solutions, explore fuel cell technology that could power high-performance low-emission cars, and experiment with new solar cell technology that could make solar energy cheap and accessible for all. Prize winners will then come together to discuss how the science, technology and engineering activities they have been working with can help deal with climate change and energy sustainability.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 8 March 2012.

Education Secretary Michael Gove today warns of the dangers of entering pupils early for GCSEs before they are ready.

Mr Gove has written to the chief inspector at Ofsted, Sir Michael Wilshaw, to ask him to examine how the practice can be “discouraged”.

In a letter to Sir Michael, Mr Gove says that taking a GCSE early “can be beneficial where it is undertaken as part of a planned programme of accelerated progression through to A level and beyond”.

But he warns it has become a “damaging trend that is harming the interests of many pupils”.

Department for Education research shows that:

• In 2007 there were 67,000 early entries in English and maths GCSEs – only two per cent of pupils entered English early while only five per cent of pupils entered maths early.
• In 2010 the number of early entries rose to 326,000 – 24 per cent of pupils took English early while 27 per cent of pupils took maths early.

Mr Gove says the research looked at the impact of the practice on attainment and found that “for many of these pupils early GCSE entry can be detrimental to their overall performance”.

• In 2010, 29 per cent of early entrants got an A*, A or B in maths GCSE – compared with 37 per cent of all entrants, and 41 per cent of end-of-course entrants.
• In 2010, 30 per cent of early entrants got an A*, A or B in English GCSE – compared with 41 per cent of all entrants, and 45 per cent of end-of-course entrants.
• Higher attaining state schools are less likely to enter pupils early than lower attaining schools. For example there were fewer pupils entering early in grammar schools than there were in other state schools.

Mr Gove says:

[This] suggests that candidates who enter early perform worse overall than those who do not, even after re-sits are taken into account.

It seems likely that candidates are being entered before they are ready, and ‘banking’ a C grade where their performance at Key Stage 2 would suggest that if they had continued to study the subject and taken the GCSE at the end of Year 11 they could have achieved a top grade.

This is of particular concern in mathematics, where there is high progression from A*/A grade at GCSE to A level, but low progression from grades B and C.

In addition, I believe that this speaks more generally of a narrowed curriculum, focused not on sound subject teaching as a basis for successful progression, but on preparation to pass exams.

He adds that he would like to hear what Ofsted and the Department for Education can do “to ensure that early entry does not impact negatively on pupils achieving their full potential”.

The research also shows that pupils who achieved an A*-C grade were less likely to be given the opportunity to re-take and potentially achieve a higher grade. For instance, for those who took maths GCSE at the end of year 10, a year before the end of their course:

• 98 per cent who got a D re-took.
• 76 per cent who got a C re-took.
• 63 per cent who got a B re-took.