Many of you will know that the government made the decision to change the GCSE grading system from letter grades to number grades with English and Maths being the first to change for this years cohort of GCSE students. The rest of the GCSE subjects will change to number grades over the next two years.
The purpose behind the change was to support the GCSE reforms and help differentiate between pupils of differing abilities.
Many people welcome the reforms, but as with most things they come at a cost. As a governor of a secondary school I can tell you that we have seen significant increased workload and stress for teachers trying to understand and support pupils with the new system, the delay in getting information from awarding bodies has had a significant impact and it has been far too difficult to get good quality information through on grade boundaries.
The biggest problem is the questions over what number grade will be recognised as a GCSE pass and how employers, colleges and universities will begin to recognise these grades. A BBC article this week highlights that different universities are setting different entry requirements around the 4 and 5 grade. This will add confusion for young people when they receive their grades as to whether or not they will meet the grades for their post 16 option choice.
As colleges and universities get on board there is some doubt that the majority of employers are aware of these changes, many will need to change their application processes to accommodate the new grade system. As part of our work to help employers become more youth friendly we regularly discuss the idea of adapting application requirements and systems. Judging a young person on their exam grades alone is no longer best practice. Recruiting on skills, attitude and motivation should become a focus for recruiters.
This is an area that needs to be watched closely as young people wait for their results. The important thing being that we need to make sure that young people have the support they need to progress.
You can find out more about the changes here or by watching the video below.
Next Steps
- If you are a young person worried about how the changes will affect you join our free Young Professional Membership so that you can access support
- Become a Community Member and receive support and insight around policy changes and how they affect youth employment. Our Members also can attend events, webinar and access our guidance around youth friendly employment
- Access our latest CEO Webinar that took a look at the policies affecting youth employment
- Already class yourself as a youth friendly employer? Apply for the Talent Match Mark today, a national mark that recognises youth friendly employers!
