GCSE results 2018

What result has that had?

All this makes meaningful comparisons year-on-year rather difficult, though we can see that there are significant increases in entries to the separate science GCSEs, with entries to GCSE Chemistry up 19%. It is notable that entries for GCSE Biology are up 23%, reflecting different entry patterns across the sciences.

Overall achievement at the various grades looks fairly stable as far as one can tell. Due to the changes to qualifications, removal of science single award qualifications in England and Wales, and resulting shifts in entry patterns, it is very hard to make meaningful comparisons year-on-year.

Additionally, regulators apply the process of ‘comparable outcomes’ to ensure that results are consistent as long as there are no significant changes in the prior attainment of students taking the qualifications, so a stable picture is what one would expect.

Assessments fit for all students

However, things were not straightforward for the new GCSE combined science in England. Ofqual announced this week that exam boards would award an additional grade of 3-3 for students entered for the higher tier this summer. The qualifications were designed with 4-3 as the lowest achievable grade on the higher tier. It has emerged that 4,700 students received a 3-3 on the higher tier, who would otherwise have been given an unclassified, or fail, grade.

While this action by Ofqual is fair, and stems from a desire to ensure that students receive a grade that reflects their ability, concerns remain about the suitability of the reformed qualifications for lower attaining students. On some qualifications, students gaining a grade 1 (the lowest grade) may have been able to answer less than 10% of the questions.

Sarah Robertson, our director of education and professional practice, said: "We respect the work that is being done to ensure this first cohort of students taking the reformed qualifications is not disadvantaged.

"However, judging from the position of grade boundaries on the foundation tier across the sciences, it seems these papers are barely accessible to the lower attaining students.

"We call on Ofqual and exam boards to investigate whether something can be done to improve the experience of assessment in the sciences for these students."

What's the picture across the nations?

The England results reflect the headline figures while different patterns are seen in Wales and Northern Ireland.

In Wales, entries to GCSE chemistry increased by 11%, with similar increases seen for the other sciences. The rise is more significant among girls than boys, meaning that girls now form the majority of candidates for all three sciences.

In Northern Ireland, there is a slight decrease in popularity of the separate science, with entries to GCSE chemistry down 1.7% (while the total number of GCSE entries was stable). However, this masks a very different pattern for boys and girls: girls were more likely than last year to be entered for any of the sciences, while boys were significantly less likely. Girls made up 53% of the GCSE chemistry cohort this year.

Entries to GCSE science single award were slightly down in Northern Ireland compared to last year, but entries for the double award were up by 12%.

Entries to science double award made up 9.4% of all GCSE entries this year, compared to 8.3% last year.

2018 GCSEs in numbers

GCSE Chemistry

GCSE Biology

GCSE Physics