GCSE grade changes increase by 52% – mostly due to GCSE English
The number of GCSE grades changed at a marking review this year has increased by 52%, with over 25,000 more changes than in 2016.
This year, 73,840 GCSE grades were changed compared with 48,430 last year. Only three per cent more GCSE exams were sat this year.
Ofqual said the rise “stemmed principally from an increase in the number of successful review requests in new and legacy versions of GCSE English language and English literature”.
It was partly ascribed to the increase in entries to GCSE English this year, which happened because fewer students took alternative qualifications such as BTEC.
The majority of changes were by one grade, and just half a per cent of all challenges resulted in a change of two grades or more. This is, however, five times last year’s figure, when just 0.1 per cent skipped upwards by two grades.
Read the full article on Schools Week.