More GCSE students could be denied the chance of securing the top grades in maths this year because of exam reform, Ofqual research suggests.

The majority of schools, surveyed by Ofqual, intend to enter a greater proportion of students into the foundation tier paper for maths GCSE this summer compared to previous years.

Students who take the foundation paper can only achieve grades 5 to 1- whereas pupils who take the higher tier paper can secure grades 9 to 4. 

The report, from the exam watchdog, found that teachers were concerned that entry decisions for this summer’s exams might be “over-cautious” following the new reforms. 

Under the new GCSEs, the bottom grade on the higher tier will be more demanding than in the old specifications, as will the top grade on the foundation tier.

The report added that teachers “were conscious that there was less information available about the qualifications, for example, past exam papers and their associated grade boundaries.”

One school surveyed said: “I think because… you don’t know what’s going to happen, or you don’t know what you’re going to see, you will be inclined to stick with, if you’re unsure, foundation because we don’t know and that is stopping them from achieving higher.

“I think that’s a shame that because we don’t know we’re stopping some kids from achieving more than they could be because we don’t want to take that risk.”

The Ofqual report - which included interviews with 12 schools in England - said: “Teachers were aware of the potential of capping the achievement of students by entering them into the foundation tier and were keen to avoid this.”

Eight schools in the study predicted that they would be entering between 9 per cent and 25 per cent more of their key stage 4 cohort into the foundation tier compared to previous years. 

The report concluded: “In the context of reform, teachers were less certain about their decisions due to the changes to the qualifications.

“Respondents thought that their tier entry choices might change as the reformed qualifications become more established and more information is available (for example, past papers and grade boundaries), such that more students might be entered into the higher tier in future years.”

The new report has been released as TES revealed that more than a decade of growth in A-level maths entries is threatened by the government’s exam reforms which risk shattering students’ confidence in the subject.

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