Britain’s education system is facing a deepening crisis after the latest GCSE results revealed English and maths pass rates have slumped to their lowest levels in more than a decade, with white working-class children hit hardest.
Just 58.3 per cent of pupils across the UK passed maths this year, down from 59.5 per cent in 2024, the weakest performance since 2013. In English, the pass rate fell by 1.7 percentage points to 60.2 per cent, matching a low not seen since 2016 and marking the poorest result since 2004.
According to Department for Education (DfE) data, white working-class pupils continue to struggle the most. Only 35 per cent of white British pupils eligible for free school meals secured a pass in both subjects last year, leaving nearly two-thirds — an estimated 57,000 pupils — facing compulsory resits this summer, or leaving school without the essential qualifications.
Compulsory Resits Under Review
Under current rules, pupils who fail English or maths at 16 must resit the exams if they remain in sixth form or college. However, the system has come under heavy criticism as pass rates for resits remain abysmally low. This summer, just 23.1 per cent of pupils retaking English achieved a grade 4 or above, with maths faring worse at 18.2 per cent.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has admitted that “four in five white working-class children” are failing to gain the basic skills required to succeed in life. She has ordered an independent curriculum review and has refused to rule out scrapping mandatory resits altogether.
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A Whitehall source told The Telegraph that the review is “likely to recommend replacing the current system”, with ministers considering alternatives such as “building block” tests in stages or a driving licence-style certificate to demonstrate essential literacy and numeracy skills.
Pressure Mounts for Reform
Education experts have long criticised the resit model. Professor Becky Francis, who is leading the independent review, described the current pass rates as “indefensible” and argued for more nuanced pathways to help students achieve positive outcomes post-16.
Others, including Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, have suggested a dual-track system: offering standard GCSE resits for academic pupils alongside alternative functional skills qualifications for those less likely to reach grade 4.
Helen Hayes MP, chair of the Commons education committee, also wrote last month urging the review panel to consider “more practical and applied alternatives in mathematics for students unlikely to reach grade 4”.
Balancing Standards and Opportunity
While critics argue that compulsory resits trap students in a cycle of repeated failure, others warn that scrapping them outright risks lowering standards. Supporters of reform insist the priority should be equipping young people with the core skills employers demand, rather than forcing them to “strike lucky” on repeated GCSE attempts.
As Ms Phillipson noted, the stakes are high: “It’s not just the life chances of those children that are being damaged – it’s also the health of our society as a whole. Swathes of human capability and potential are being wasted.”
With English and maths pass rates at their lowest in a decade, pressure is mounting on ministers to act. The independent review is expected to deliver its recommendations later this year, with speculation that radical change could be on the horizon.
For now, thousands of pupils across Britain are trapped in a system many say is broken. Whether the government has the political will to confront the crisis and reshape the pathway to core skills remains to be seen. What is clear is that Britain can ill afford to consign another generation to educational failure.
