A new foundation-tier maths GCSE for resit students only has been suggested by maths education expert Charlie Stripp.

He said it would ensure pupils had better experience of maths, rather than narrowing their focus to pass an exam.

Mr Stripp, the chief executive of Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI) and director of the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM), said the idea would be for the GCSE to have less content and be capped at a grade 5.

“The point of maths education is not to get a grade C or grade 4 at GCSE, that is a side effect,” Mr Stripp said. “The point is to be able to use maths effectively.

“Rather than repeated failures, why not have a different GCSE that meets the needs of students? Much of the content would be taken from the current GCSE but it is very clearly truncated, so pupils could thoroughly learn the maths they need to function well in work and in life.”

Such a GCSE would breach the current Ofqual rules, but Mr Stripp pointed out that: “If Ofqual’s rules are damaging education then change the rules”.

Improving maths resits

Pupils who don’t get a grade 4 at GCSE must continue to study maths after 16. Those who get a grade 3 must resit the GCSE, those with a grade 1 or 2 can take an alternative qualification such as functional maths.

And Mr Stripp is particularly concerned about the low pass rate of pupils who are resitting the GCSE in further education, about one in four maths GCSE resit students passed in summer 2017 - and has even taught a resit class himself to get an insight into the challenges.

The government announced in the budget that it will be putting £8.5 million into a pilot project to test “innovative approaches” to improve resit outcomes.

Mr Stripp added that an alternative to introducing a new GCSE could be to change the current two-tier system of maths GCSE to reward pupils and teachers for learning maths and remove the incentive to “game” the system.

In the 9-1 maths GCSE, which was sat for the first time last year, pupils take either the foundation tier covering grades 1-5 or the higher tier covering grades 3-9, each has three papers.

But there was concern that the pass mark for one higher tier paper was set at just 18 per cent compared to around 35 per cent under the previous system.

And last month it was revealed that some pupils resitting the exam in November got a grade 4 with as few as 13 per cent of the marks on the higher tier paper.

Three-paper solution

“I’m concerned that students will be entered for the higher tier on the basis that the grade boundaries are so low,” Stripp said. “Students can be trained to question spot, to hoover up marks that gives you a negative experience of maths - even if you pass.

“I would rather have a situation where you had three papers. One paper aimed at students taking the foundation tier which focuses on material at a level up to grade 4, then a middle paper which covers grades 4, 5 and 6 very thoroughly, then a higher tier paper for grades 7 to 9.

“Everyone would take the middle paper, then everyone who gets a grade 4 or 5 would get it on the same basis because they’ve done the same questions on the same paper. But the foundation tier would consist of paper 1 and paper 2 and the higher tier would consist of paper 2 and paper 3.

“That would mean that even a student who fails to get a grade 4 overall. In the bottom paper, they would be able to show what they can do, it would be a more positive experience for them.

“It would mean such low-grade boundaries wouldn’t be there anymore. It removes the incentive to game the system.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Thanks to our reforms and the hard work of teachers, there are now 1.9million more children in good or outstanding schools than in 2010.

“The new GCSEs in English and maths are the culmination of a six year process of curriculum and qualifications reform, which has involved wide consultation with teachers, schools and universities. These more rigorous qualifications will ensure that young people can gain the knowledge and understanding they need to succeed in the future and compete in an increasingly global workplace.‎”

Mr Stripp has led MEI since 2010 and NCETM since 2013. A full profile appears in this week’s Tes magazine.

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