Thursday 22 August 2019
There is much to celebrate in this year's GCSE and equivalent results. Across all schools and the College of Further Education, there are many success stories.
These include the excellent results achieved by students at the College of Further Education: at Level 2, 64% of students achieved a Merit or above, compared to 41% in 2018. Students and teachers deserve congratulations for their hard work. Alongside these successes there are areas where improvements should be made and where outcomes fall short of comparable areas in the UK. School leaders are confident that the educational reforms currently underway will lead to significant improvements.
A new secondary school accountability system was introduced in England from 2016 including new performance measures, new qualifications, and a new grade structure. It is therefore important to avoid taking headline figures at face value as direct comparisons are impossible.
New performance measures were introduced in response to problems with the previous 5 A*-C measure, which is still in use in Guernsey. The measure incentivised a disproportionate focus on a small number of subjects and on students near the C/D boundary at the expense of those above or below this boundary.
The new English qualifications are more rigorous and are designed to ensure the best possible preparation for study beyond 16. The new GCSEs also aimed to counter the substantial grade inflation which occurred between their introduction in 1988, when 41.9% of entries were awarded a C grade or higher, to 69% in 2015. Qualifications which are not judged as being of the same standard as the new GCSEs, or are not possible to regulate, no longer count towards performance measures in England.
A new 9-1 grading system has been introduced, with 9 being the highest grade. The new grades have been introduced to differentiate better between students of different abilities, particularly at the higher end of the scale.
When the Committee was elected in February 2018, it found no plans to move away from the outdated 5 A*-C measure and qualifications which are no longer judged to be of equivalent value.
The Committee is not willing to set lower standards for students in Guernsey than their English counterparts, and has resolved to move towards some of the new English performance measures, including Attainment 8.
This will:
- Provide better incentives to schools to prioritise the progress of all students equally and focus on a broader range of subjects.
- Provide better preparation for further and higher study.
- Ensure the qualifications students achieve are respected wherever they choose to work or study.
- Allow accurate benchmarking of Guernsey's performance.
Students start courses two or three years before sitting exams and teachers need time to prepare to teach new specifications. These measures are therefore being introduced over the next four years and will be fully in place for the 2023 results.
Qualifications have previously been selected at individual school level with some opting for the new more rigorous qualifications to ensure the best possible preparation for further study. Currently, the proportion of new qualifications varies between schools, with some changes since last year. This means it is not possible to make direct comparisons between Guernsey and England, between schools' results or over time, because the qualifications counting towards the measures are not equivalent.
The schools which are merging to form Lisia School are aligning specifications. This will provide the best possible experiences and preparation for the future, and ensure students are not disadvantaged when competing for university and job offers. The future model of education and the plans school leaders are putting in place will help to deliver excellence for all.
Despite the lack of comparability, the Committee is keen to ensure the highest levels of transparency.
School leaders will be analysing trends in detail including under the new Attainment 8 system. Due to the differing qualifications studied and inclusion of resits in results in Guernsey, any Attainment 8 figure can only be an estimate, but will provide additional useful information. This will be released publicly in the coming days. There is a need for better tracking and benchmarking across Key Stages which will lead to improvements in the accuracy of predictions.
The Bailiwick figures include results from the three grant-aided Colleges and the special schools, unlike some other jurisdictions. At this stage results remain provisional.
5+ Grades 9-4/A*-C including English and maths
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
Bailiwick | 57.4% | 62.1% | 65.6% | 68.4% | 63.9% |
Grammar School | 96.2% | 94.4% | 98.9% | 97.6% | 88.6% |
La Mare de Carteret High | 32% | 45.5% | 41.7% | 58% | 39.5% |
Les Beaucamps High | 42.3% | 48% | 45% | 53.1% | 52.6% |
St Anne's Alderney | 42.9% | 25% | 54.5% | 50% | 18.8% |
St Sampson's High | 32.9% | 39.6% | 48.7% | 47.3% | 47.8% |
Les Voies | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 8.3% |
5+ Grades 9-4/A*-C
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
Bailiwick | 65.2% | 67.2% | 70.3% | 72.8% | 70.5% |
Grammar School | 97.1% | 99.1% | 98.9% | 100% | 95.5% |
La Mare de Carteret High | 45.6% | 52.7% | 54.2% | 68.1% | 50.6% |
Les Beaucamps High | 60.6% | 61.2% | 56.9% | 62.5% | 63.2% |
St Anne's, Alderney | 57.1% | 37.5% | 54.5% | 75% | 56.3% |
St Sampson's High | 41.4% | 43.9% | 54.7% | 50.4% | 50.7% |
Les Voies | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 25% |
5+ Grades 9-1/A*-G
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
Bailiwick | 90.9% | 92% | 91.7% | 93.8% | 92.1% |
Grammar School | 100% | 99.1% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
La Mare de Carteret High | 92.2% | 97.3% | 95.8% | 100% | 100% |
Les Beaucamps High | 94.2% | 91.8% | 90.8% | 88.5% | 95.8% |
St Anne's, Alderney | 92.9% | 93.8% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
St Sampson's High | 90.1% | 87.8% | 92.3% | 91.6% | 99.3% |
Les Voies | 25% | 92.3% | 100% | 75% | 91.7% |
NB Les Voies have a very small cohort
College of Further Education Results
Full time students | 16/17 | 17/18 | 18/19 | UK benchmark |
Level 2 | 88% | 91% | 95.0% | 90.7% |
Level 1 | 96% | 83% | 93.0% | 88.2% |
Access | 100% | 100% | 100.0% | No benchmark |
Deputy Richard Graham, Vice President of the Committee forEducation, Sport & Culture, said:
'On behalf of the Committee, I would like to congratulate all students who have worked extremely hard to achieve these results today. Our thanks and congratulations also go out to the teachers and support staff who have enabled their pupils to achieve these results and the Committee wishes all our young people every success as they move to the next chapter of their lives.
Amongst the many success stories it is clear that there are areas in which results are disappointing, and that there is room for improvement in our system. We must retain the highest possible aspirations for the young people of the Bailiwick.'
Liz Coffey, Executive Headteacher of Secondary schools, said:
'Students should be congratulated on their individual results. Thank you to staff in schools who have supported them and to their parents and carers for their ongoing support. Analysis of the results across the four schools supports our ongoing work in the transformation programme and further define the improvements we need to make.'
Louise Misselke, Principal of the College of Further Education, said:
'Students have excelled themselves and I am delighted with the pass rate for our full time students on Level 2 and Level 1 courses. This year students have worked so incredibly hard and absolutely deserve this success. I am also very proud of our team at College, who are dedicated to the success of our students and I know that they will all be immensely proud of the students today. The pass rates are well above the UK benchmark for further education and are a testament to professionalism, hard work and efforts of our team'.
