Targets for schools in England must be toughened up if the country is to become one of the world’s top performing education systems, according to the think-tank led by former Lib Dem minister David Laws.
More must be done to narrow the “disadvantage gap”, which has narrowed but still sees children from the poorest backgrounds achieve one grade lower in every GCSE on average than their wealthier classmates, researchers from CentreForum argue.
Current goals for 16 -year-olds to achieve five good GCSE passes are set too low, researchers argue, even though nearly half (44 per cent) of teenagers failed to meet it last year.
The existing C grade benchmark for a “good pass” is not set at a world class standard, according to the report.
New GCSEs, which will be taken for the first time in 2017, will have a new grading scale. The new “good pass” will then be considered to be a Grade 5 – which is between the current GCSE C and B grades. When the new Grade 5 standard replaces the current “C” grade standard, researchers calculate the percentage of children who hit the target in English and Maths will initially fall from 58 per cent to 35 per cent.
CentreForum calls for the Government to set a range of more challenging targets. This would include 75 per cent of teenagers achieving an average of a Grade 5 in eight GCSEs. Currently just 35 pent of children are estimated to achieve this standard. It calls for 85 per cent of children to achieve the required standard in reading, writing and maths by the time they leave primary school, compared to 57 per cent today. It also calls for the disadvantage gap to be eradicated.
David Laws, schools minister from 2012 to 2015, said: “Our analysis shows that attainment has risen and the disadvantaged gap – notably at the end of primary education – has fallen over the last decade. This is good news.
“But... almost 45 per cent of children continue to fail to reach national benchmark standards, which are already lower than the standards reached in the best performing countries. This will be brought sharply into focus when the new GCSEs are introduced in 2017, with a more challenging standard for a “good pass”.”
The report praises the work of schools which have already achieved outstanding results in deprived areas. Last summer King Solomon Academy in London had the best GCSE results of any state comprehensive in the country, with 95 per cent of students achieving at least 5 A*-C grades at GCSE, including English and maths. This is despite the fact that 67 per cent of students at the school are from disadvantaged backgrounds.
In 2015, 80 per cent of Ark St Alban’s in Birmingham was in the top one per cent of schools nationally for adding value to children’s education. Almost seven out of ten students achieved five good GCSE passes including English and maths, despite the fact that 75 per cent of students at the school are considered disadvantaged (eligible for free school meals or looked after) and 72% speak English as an additional language.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Education welcomed the report.
