2026 Summer Term

The know zone

  • Disadvantaged pupils: Decoding the data
    With growing policy focus on disadvantaged pupils, schools must utilise data to improve student outcomes. Tiffnie Harris explores what leaders should prepare for. More
  • Breaking the cycle
    Claire Green says meaningful reform means moving beyond endless GCSE resits and tackling the causes of low attainment much earlier. More
  • The power of three
    As schools face growing financial and operational pressures, Emma Harrison explores how a new joint report makes the case for a more integrated approach to leadership across governance, education and business. More
  • The missing 'word'
    As debate continues about how to solve the teacher recruitment and retention crisis, pensions remain largely absent from the conversation. Melanie Moffatt argues that overlooking the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) risks undermining one of the profession's greatest strengths. More
  • No phone zone
    With the government set to place existing mobile phone guidance on a statutory footing, we're keen to hear how schools are responding. Do you already have a policy in place, and what does it look like? Here, ASCL members have their say. More
  • Open-door leadership
    Deputy Headteacher Kate Johnston reflects on ASCL Council, shaping policy, and how an open-door approach underpins her leadership. More
  • Ofsted for Parents
    School leaders often feel they're held accountable for almost every aspect of young people's lives. But what if parents faced similar scrutiny? Carl Smith explores an Ofsted inspection for parents. More

Claire Green says meaningful reform means moving beyond endless GCSE resits and tackling the causes of low attainment much earlier.

Breaking the cycle

By any measure, England’s post-16 English and maths resit policy is one of the most entrenched – and contested – features of the education landscape. Yet as wider qualification reform gathers pace with the introduction of V levels and new level 2 pathways, one question is becoming harder to ignore: can a system built on repeated compulsion really deliver different outcomes? 

The evidence suggests not. This is a system that continues to fail the same group of young people, not through any lack of effort by students or providers, but because it rests on a flawed policy assumption. becomes a cycle of failure: the same content and assessment, repeated year after year. 

Resits stuck on repeat 

The data is sobering. Approximately a third of people leave Key Stage 4 without achieving a grade 4 in English and maths, and, by age 19, more than a quarter still have not reached that benchmark. For more than a decade, the response has been clear: require those students to keep resitting English and maths until they pass. But outcomes have barely shifted. Four in five students who miss the pass at 16 still have not achieved it by 19, despite repeated attempts. For many of them, the experience 

One size does not fit all 

A central problem is that the policy takes little account of the complexity of students’ circumstances. They arrive at post-16 with very different starting points. Some are close to passing and may benefit from a short period of targeted support. Others are working at much lower levels, with significant gaps in knowledge that cannot realistically be addressed through immediate resits. 

Many have experienced disrupted schooling, low prior attainment, or challenges such as poor mental health, caring responsibilities or low attendance. Disadvantaged students and those with SEND are disproportionately represented in this group, meaning the impact of a uniform resit policy is inherently unequal. And yet the system treats them all the same. 

Stepping stone misstep 

The government is proposing a level 1 ‘stepping stone’ qualification in Year 12 for students who achieved a grade 2 or below. This is intended to provide a more accessible intermediate stage before attempting GCSE again. 

While this recognises that young people need different starting points, it does not fundamentally shift the model. The end goal remains the same: a GCSE resit. The underlying assumption that all young people should follow the same pathway to reach that goal remains largely intact. 

A system in transition 

At the same time, the wider post-16 system is undergoing reform. The introduction of V levels marks a new, broad vocational pathway at level 3, sitting alongside A levels and T levels. Designed to be equivalent in size to a single A level, they aim to provide a flexible route for students who want to combine academic and vocational study or explore a sector before specialising, with rollout from 2027. 

Alongside this, the government is simplifying level 2 through Foundation Certificates and Occupational Certificates, both aiming to create clearer progression routes for students. 

These reforms are built on flexibility, clarity and engagement. They recognise that students have different goals, strengths and starting points, and seek to create pathways that reflect that diversity. 

Yet this creates a clear tension. While the wider system is being redesigned around flexibility and choice, the English and maths resit policy still remains and is as rigid and uniform as ever. The know zone Post-16 

Towards a more preventative approach 

This points to a more fundamental issue: the problem may not sit primarily in post-16 at all. By the time students reach 16 without a grade 4 in English and maths, many have already experienced years of difficulty, disengagement and low attainment. Attempting to address this through repeated resits in a compressed post-16 timeframe is unlikely to succeed. 

A more effective approach would focus on pre-16 intervention, reducing the number of young people reaching this point in the first place. This was the central message of ASCL’s The Forgotten Third report (see www.ascl.org.uk/ForgottenThird), highlighting earlier and more sustained support for those at risk of falling behind. This means identifying need earlier and greater flexibility in Key Stage 4. 

Ultimately, the most effective solution may not lie in refining the resit system, but in reducing the need for it altogether and breaking the cycle of repeated failure.

Claire Green
ASCL Post-16 and Skills Specialist
@c-jgreen.bsky.social

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