More GCSE students on their A-game
Thousands of teenagers will discover their GCSE results this morning (Courtest of Hammersmith and Fulham)
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Thursday, 27, Aug 2009 02:04
By inthenews.co.uk staff.
More students than ever before received the top GCSE grades in the last year, results out today have shown.
As thousands of students received their results, official statistics revealed that 21.6 per cent of entries were A* or A, a rise of 0.9 points.
67.1 per cent of entries received between A* and C, while the gap between girls and boys narrowed slightly (24.4 per cent A* or A for girls compared to 18.7 per cent for boys).
A poll out today by ComRes revealed that more and more students were staying on in full-time education. Nearly two-thirds of business leaders said the quality of school-leavers was 'unacceptable', a damning indictment of Britain's education system.
With ten per cent more saying they would be recruiting fewer school-leavers this year than last year, prospects for the class of 2009 appear less than bright.
Separate research by Opinion Matters found 18 per cent of students aged 15 or 16 claimed to have changed their minds about leaving school after GCSEs and finding paid employment.
They now plan on undertaking new qualifications or training routes, a trend which has delighted schools minister Vernon Coaker.
"It is good to see so many young people opting to stay in education or training after their GCSEs," he said.
"We have always known that young people who continue to develop their skills and seek higher levels of qualifications have stronger career prospects than those that don't."
Amid the debate over exams getting easier, the Liberal Democrats have warned that since 1997 three million students have missed out on five GCSEs.
David Laws, the party's school's spokesperson, said since 1997 more than 2.8 million 16-year-olds have finished school without five decent (A* to C) qualifications. He says today's results could much the total to more than three million.
Mr Laws said: "These shocking figures reveal the true extent of Labour's failure in education.
"After over ten years in power, it is deeply concerning that around one third of pupils are leaving education without even achieving the basic standard of five good GCSEs.
"It is these young people, let down by Labour, who are now likely to be bearing the brunt of the recession.
"Ministers need to start getting the basics right early on, so no child falls behind. We need to target additional funding at the children who are struggling, and cut class sizes so every young child gets the attention they need."