The proportion of GCSEs awarded A* is down this year by 0.5 percentage points from 7.3% to 6.8%, while the proportion achieving A*-C is also down, 1.3 percentage points to 68.1%.
The number of GCSEs taken in 2013 increased by 4.2% compared with 2012 (5.2m to over 5.4m).
This significant rise can be attributed to the number of GCSEs taken by those aged 15 years and younger increasing 39.0% to 806,141.
Across all subjects, girls continued to outperform boys at A* (8.3% compared to 5.3%) and at A*-C (72.3% compared to 63.7%).
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the
NASUWT
, said:
“It is evident that this year’s results have been achieved against a background of an increasing amount of turbulence and uncertainty in the examinations system, much of which has been deliberately generated by the Coalition Government in an attempt to justify its programme of ideological education reforms.
“It is clear that that the slight decline in the overall pass rate is to a large extent due to schools entering candidates early for GCSEs.
“This pattern appears to be driven by the high stakes accountability regime which is not only putting schools under an increasing amount of pressure and damaging their ability to focus on the best interests of learners, but is also now leading to increasing pressure on young people themselves.”
Keates accused Education Secretary Michael Gove of “whipping up a false hysteria about falling standards and ‘easy’ qualifications to justify his ideological reforms”.
She added: “The Secretary of State should be focusing on the wealth of evidence highlighting the need to review the high-stakes, punitive inspection regime and the performance league tables which are preventing schools from focusing on the teaching and learning of young people.”
The Government said the effects of the EBacc are shown in today’s GCSE results. The decline in languages has been reversed with the number of entries to language GCSEs now at a 5-year high. The number of entries to history is at its highest for at least 16 years, while the number of geography entries is at its highest for nine years.
Education Minister Elizabeth Trusssaid:
“Today’s results show that the EBacc has not just arrested the decline in the study of academic subjects at GCSE – it is reversing it.
“It is very pleasing to see the increase in these important subjects – the ones that will keep pupils’ options open in the future. I am particularly delighted to see a languages revival – with an increase in the number of entries to French, German and Spanish GCSEs after years of decline.
“The EBacc is the platform for young people to go on to A levels and high-quality vocational study. It will help them compete with their peers in the world’s best education jurisdictions, where they are expected to study a rigorous academic core.”