Policy Exchange says levy should be used to help pay for subsequent exam resits at further education colleges

Schools where pupils fail to achieve a minimum C grade at GCSE maths and English should be fined to help pay for subsequent exam resits at college, a report suggests.

As a result of the government’s compulsory resit policy, hundreds of thousands of pupils who missed the required grades at GCSE now have to study and take their exams again, many of them at a further education (FE) college.

To pay for it, the right-of-centre Policy Exchange thinktank says schools should be charged a “resit levy” per pupil to compensate for their failure to ensure that the student has achieved baseline qualifications, and cover the cost of transferring to an FE college to resit.

Natasha Porter, the author of report, said: “Students should absolutely be required to retake English and maths if they fail the first time round. At a time when employers are crying out for talented workers, young British men and women should be as literate and numerate as possible.



“It is unfair for some schools to pass the buck to FE colleges who are already facing extreme funding pressures to fix a problem they have not caused themselves. To recognise the additional burden on FE colleges and shoulder more responsibility, schools should cough up and pay a resit levy.”

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The proposition is likely to alarm schools, which are already struggling to make ends meet financially. Policy Exchange, which was founded in 2002 by the former education secretary Michael Gove among others, is seen as highly influential: its policy ideas are closely followed by government, and former senior staff have moved to work in senior government roles.



While teachers’ leaders acknowledge the unfair burden on FE colleges, they say penalising schools is not the solution. Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: “The coalition government slashed 16-19 funding and it will be cut again under this government. The answer is not to rob Peter to pay Paul but to fund all schools and colleges properly, to recruit more teachers and help them support students to make the most of the talents of our young people.”

FE colleges have been severely hit by government spending cuts in recent years and may face further cuts in the coming spending review. According to the report, compulsory resits will create a huge additional burden, not just because of the sheer numbers but because many of their students will have got below a D in their original GCSE and require more intensive teaching.

In 2013, FE colleges took five times more students than schools for English GCSE retakes – 100,239 students, compared with 20,544 who stayed at school and 8,738 who went to sixth form college.

FE colleges also took 60% of maths resit students, compared with schools who took 13% – 110,811 students compared to the 27,579 who studied at school and 11,193 at sixth form college.

Of those retaking English GCSE, 49% at FE college received below a D grade first time round; at school it was 30% below a D, and at sixth form college 31%. Of those retaking maths, 66% at FE college got below a D grade, compared with 47% both at school and at sixth form college.

John Widdowson, president of the Association of Colleges (AoC), said the Policy Exchange proposal would bring welcome extra funding, but “it would be easier if the government recognised the new challenge taken on by colleges in the national funding system”.



He said: “It is extremely disappointing therefore that government consistently refuse to place a protective funding ringfence around the education for 16- to 19-year-olds, leaving their education extremely vulnerable in the spending review, unlike the five- to 15-year-olds who are protected.”

The Department for Education said it already provided an extra £480 per student per subject for all those with GCSE English or maths below grade C.

“Numeracy and literacy are fundamental skills,” said a spokesperson. “If young people have not mastered them by 16, it is more likely they will be held back for the rest of their life. That is why we want all young people who do not achieve at least a GCSE C in English or maths to continue studying until they reach that standard.”

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Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said there would always be some students who would not achieve the desired C grade at 16, especially with tougher new exams. “We agree that these students need continued help and support in English and maths post-16, and that FE colleges and other providers should receive the funding they need to deliver these courses. However, the idea of a resit levy on the secondary schools where these students first took their GCSEs would be an own goal.

“Schools are already facing real-terms cuts in their budgets and unprecedented difficulties in recruiting staff, particularly maths teachers. A resit levy would potentially worsen this situation.”

Nansi Ellis, assistant general secretary at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said many FE colleges were having to devote entire buildings to accommodate the huge numbers retaking their GCSEs. Schools, however, should not have to pay for it, she said. “We also fundamentally disagree with making students keep resitting GCSEs in English and maths because it is demoralising, demotivating and does not help them to progress to the precious grade C.”