More than 45,000 pupils to resit English GCSEs

45,000 pupils will be allowed to resit their GCSE English exam next month over a scandal that has shaken the education system.

Parents and students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland complained that English GCSE results have been downgraded, which meant that thousands of teenagers missed out on C and above grades.

The England exam regulator Ofqual carried out an inquiry that suggests the exam results were marked fairly and the mock exams taken earlier this year were marked generously.

Yesterday it was announced that a legal challenge will be put to the high court following a meeting of legal representatives on behalf of pupils, schools, councils and professional bodies.

A spokesman for the alliance said: “We have thoroughly examined the case that we have and we are convinced of the merits of our case, and the expectation that we will the successful outcome we want – which is a regrade for students.” 

Ofqual is vowing to defend its earlier decision amongst threats of proposed action against them.

A spokesman for Ofqual said: “Our work to understand why some schools’ results differed significantly from their expectations is continuing and we will report again shortly.”

Brina Lightman of the Association of School and College leaders (ASCL) stated:

“We are disappointed that Ofqual and the awarding bodies have refused to take responsibility for their actions and to acknowledge that many thousands of young people’s career ambitions have been undermined by a failure to implement the new qualification properly.”

The Welsh Education Minister Leighton Andrews has already gone one step further and ordered the WJEC exam board to regrade 2,400 Welsh students’ English exam results after a review of the marking system.

James Clark