Merseyside area named worst in the country for GCSE results

GCSE results day is quickly approaching, with teenagers across the country set to find out how they performed in their exams on Thursday, August 22. The results will be released from 8.00am onwards and pupils will need to achieve a grade of 4 for a ‘standard pass’ and 5’ for a ‘strong pass’.

But, while students patiently wait for Thursday to come, an education study has revealed the UK areas where pupils are mostly likely to pass their GCSES and the areas where students are likely to fail.

The government’s Explore Education Statistics report analysed GCSE results from the 2022/23 academic year and found that the London Borough of Sutton is the most likely UK area for students to pass their GCSEs, with 69.19% of students achieving a grade 5 or above in core subjects English and Maths. Kingston upon Thames had the second highest GCSE pass rate in the UK, with 66.67% achieving a grade 5. However, it also revealed that Knowsley in Merseyside had the lowest pass rate in the UK, with just 19.52% achieving a grade 5 or above.

In the 2021/22 academic year, Knowsley saw 26% of pupils achieving a grade 5 or higher in core subjects, however, the official report does state that in 2022/23 there was a return to pre-pandemic standards for GCSEs, AS and A levels. It notes that performance was affected by ‘the ongoing uneven impacts of the pandemic on different schools/colleges and pupils’ adding: “It is expected that performance in 2023 will generally be lower than in 2022. Users need to exercise extreme caution when considering comparisons over time, as they may not reflect changes in pupil performance alone.”

About the GCSE grading system

In England, GCSE exams used to be graded using an alphabetical system from A* to G, with a C usually considered to be a pass. However, this was overhauled in 2017 and replaced with a numerical system.

Now, the exams are graded from 9 to 1, with 9 being the highest grade and 1 being the lowest. A 4 is considered a ‘standard pass’ - the equivalent of a C - while a 5 is considered a ‘strong pass’ and similar to a B. A grade of between 7 to 9 would be the equivalent of an A to an A*. While a 4 is considered a pass, the government league tables use a 5 to constitute a pass and many sixth forms and colleges require grade 5 or 6 for entry.