3.9 million pupils since 1997 have failed to reach an acceptable standard at GCSE

"Almost one million teenagers have failed to achieve even the lowest possible passing grade, G, in five GCSEs since Labour took power in 1997.

The report by the Bow Group found that the number of pupils failing to achieve five GCSEs rose last year to 90,000 - the highest figure since 1998. While a G grade is a pass, most employers view a C grade as the minimum acceptable standard of GCSE.

The report found that in England between 1997 and 2007 there were 3.9 million pupils - almost 60 per cent of the total - who failed to get five GCSEs at C or above, including the core subjects of English and maths."

The Telegraph reports a Bow Group study showing that billions of children are being let down by our education system.  Politicians have been claiming that serious improvement is just around the corner for the hundred and thirty years they've been in charge.  It is high time we thought again and put control back in the hands of teachers and parents.  That way we might not just see improved results but results that people believe in.  Schools would start to cater to parents who want to see their children earn meaningful qualifications rather than politicians that fail to meet diluted targets.

Comments

[Hardeep_Singh]

Absolutely, the teachers and parents should be the influential figure heads when it comes to running schools not politicians. Would any school accept that it is based and run around just a single student's needs, of course not, so why would you have it hijacked and run around the needs and aspirations of a politician? It's your children's future not that politician's of bureancrats, you can't afford to do it any other way.

It's blindingly obvious that New Labour simply massaged the pass mark effectively bringing it lower and lower until it became more difficult to fail than to pass! The abolition of exams and tests as some kind of evil is a joke. No system is ever 100% but you need to opt for the most prcatical option and not a fluffy comuffy arrangement where the student doesn't feel too stressed. Not a way to preapre for worklife nor the future.