Aquinas College features in national report that showcases outstanding performance in GCSE Maths and English Resits
The report, Making the grade: 10 recommendations to help students make progress in GCSE maths and English resits, is based on the approach taken by 11 sixth form colleges in England where post-16 students perform very strongly in these subjects.
The report was compiled by the Sixth Form Colleges Association and officially launched at the Association’s annual Curriculum Conference at the University of Warwick today.
Sixth formers in England are required to continue studying maths and English if they did not achieve a GCSE grade 4 or above in these subjects at age 16. As the report sets out, this is controversial policy that is often unpopular with students and can be difficult for institutions to deliver at scale.
However, the 11 colleges that feature in the report all have a substantial cohort of resit students and high GCSE maths and English progress scores – a government measure that shows the distance travelled between performance at the end of Key Stage 4 and the end of post-16 study.
While the average GCSE progress score for students in England is 0.05 for maths and 0.17 for English, at Aquinas the average is 0.89 for Maths, and 0.83 for English, both well above average.
Today’s report sets out 10 recommendations that all schools and colleges can use to improve the development of their resit offer. These include prioritising the induction process, investing in specialist maths and English teachers, focusing on exam technique and majoring on one-to-one student support.
The final recommendation is for college staff to be relentlessly positive – the common thread that ran through all 11 colleges that featured in the report.
College principal Jo Dommett said ‘we’re delighted to be featured in this report. It’s testament to the fantastic Maths and English Department’s at our college, and most of all to the incredible hard work, commitment and resilience of our young people.’
Further Information
English GCSE
Mathematics GCSE
Sixth Form Colleges Association
Making the Grade – 10 recommendations to help
students make progress in GCSE maths and English resits [PDF file]




























































