GCSE pass rate falls for the first time in a decade

The proportion of teenagers who got five good passes at GCSE fell this summer for the first time in almost a decade, after an exam season overshadowed by a row over the grading of English.

Official figures show that 58.6% of pupils in England gained five A*-C grades including English and maths this year, down 0.4% on last summer.

Government statisticians blamed the fall on declining results in private schools, which have increasing numbers of overseas students who do not always take English GCSE. But officials also noted the impact of changes in English.

The figures show that the proportion of state school pupils making expected progress in English between leaving primary school and sitting their GCSEs dropped by over 4% to 67.6%.

Headteachers have claimed that thousands of students received lower than expected results in GCSE English in the summer after grade boundaries were raised between the January and June exam sessions.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "This year, unfortunately, GCSE achievements have been overshadowed by the shambles surrounding English.

"Having seen grade boundaries moved between January and June, and papers regraded in Wales but not England or Northern Ireland, it is our feeling that the drop in the number of students getting five A*-C grades including English and mathematics is related to this.

"We can see from the data that schools are continuing to make excellent progress but, nevertheless, thousands of young people have had their results and their futures hampered by the GCSE marking fiasco.

Government officials said there has been an increase in overseas students attending UK fee-paying schools, and many of these either do not take English, or take English as a second language, a different subject, and this accounts for the drop. The figures show that in state secondary schools alone, there has been a 0.1 percentage point rise in the number of pupils getting five good GCSEs.

In total, 58.3% of state school pupils achieved at least five Cs, including English and maths. Independent schools are down six percentage points from 82.8% in 2011 to 76.9% in 2012. There has been a decline in the number of pupils entering for either GCSE or iGCSE English in independent schools. Meanwhile, there has been a rise in the number of private school pupils taking English qualifications for speakers of another language.

The statistics also show that a rising proportion of pupils are being entered for and achieving the English Baccalaureate. To gain the EBacc pupils must score at least a C grade in English, maths, science, history or geography and a foreign language.

This year, one in four pupils from all schools in England were entered for all the EBacc subjects, with 18.1% achieving the award. This is up on 2011, when 23.8% entered and 17.6% achieved it.

A Department for Education spokesman said: "It is welcome that more students are studying the core academic subjects that will open more doors to them for their future.

"The EBacc is the platform for young people to go on to A-levels and high-quality vocational study, and is helping us compete with leading nations who expect all students to study a rigorous academic core."

Verity O'Keefe, employment and skills adviser at EEF, the manufacturers' organisation, said: "Today's drop in the number of young people achieving five good GCSE passes, including English and maths, shows that we are still some way off the mark the economy needs to grow the pipeline of people with good basic skills.

"Many employers use similar benchmarks when recruiting young people, with three-quarters of manufacturers prioritising attainment in maths, English and the sciences when recruiting apprentices.

"However, a lack of attainment in key subjects is still restricting firms' ability to fill vacancies and government must now set a target of 65% of students achieving five good passes which includes English and maths."

Meanwhile, official analysis of this summer's A-level results shows that a lower proportion of sixth-formers achieved three or more top A-level grades this summer.

One in eight students (12.5%) at all English schools and colleges achieved at least three A*s or As in their exams, down more than half a percent from 13.1% in 2011, according to government statistics.

The data also shows that private school students are three times more likely to score top grades at A-level than their state-educated peers.