The 2024 Resit Reality Report
To learn more about the outcome of GCSE assessments across the country, pinpoint areas where students are struggling the most, and identify regions most in need of teachers, we created the 2024 Access Education ‘Resit Reality’ Report.
We collated Ofqual data outlining GCSE grades from 2024 that were achieved for the top 15 most common subjects (biology, business, chemistry, combined science, computer science, English language, English literature, French, geography, German, history, Maths, music, physics and Spanish). The data was then broken down by grades achieved, to provide deeper insights.
Finally, we examined which regions and subjects across England had the highest rate of teacher vacancies, to explore potential correlations between teacher shortages and student performance, assessing whether low staffing levels may be impacting pass rates.
English and maths resits in 2024
The only subjects that are compulsory to resist in England are maths and English, however, students can retake any subject where they didn’t achieve a pass grade to continue studying it at A-Level.
Over the past three years, the percentage of students required to resit maths and English, both literature and language, has increased. Due to government requirements, this means that teachers will need to dedicate significant time towards ensuring each student will receive a passing grade when they resit.
In 2024, over a quarter of students who sat the exams in maths, English, and English literature didn’t achieve a passing grade. This is an increase of at least 5% since 2022.
Based on data from over 80,000 GCSE students answering over 6 million questions, Access GCSEPod's ‘Knowledge and Confidence Gap Analysis Report’ from 2023/24 pinpointed the areas where students are struggling the most across these subjects.
- In maths, it was found that students struggle most with recalling and correctly applying formulae (66.7% incorrect attempts), and dividing fractions (62.9% incorrect attempts).
- In English language, students had the most difficulty in identifying how and when to use apostrophes and quotation marks (69.1% incorrect attempts), with a poor understanding of punctuation as a common error.
- For English Literature, the most common errors were with students misunderstanding the narrative or plot of the chosen text, including comparing poetry (73% incorrect attempts) and approaching Shakespeare (69.9% incorrect attempts). This stemmed from students’ lack of accurate knowledge of the text, rather than the challenge of more complex questions.
The top subjects requiring the most GCSE resits
Across the other subjects analysed, the percentage of students that would need to resit if they wanted to continue study was still over 25%. However, the change in resits required over the past three years was less dramatic, with some subjects, such as humanities, seeing a decrease.
In Combined Science, which had the highest percentage of resists needed in 2024, the commonality of errors related to equations and data, similar to that of maths, meaning that inadequate understanding of mathematical skills and processes may be affecting both confidence in the students and attainment.
This highlights the importance of spending time ensuring students understand formulae and how to apply it, especially with previous exam conditions coming back into play where pupils won’t receive information sheets.
Humanity subjects including History and Geography also saw high numbers of students achieving grades of 3 or below. Information from Access Education’s GCSEPod showed that those taking these subjects struggled to retain accurate and relevant knowledge of key events and case studies. In both topics, it has been suggested that a main focus for students and teachers moving forward into resits is to clearly identify subject-specific vocabulary.
This comes as a recent decision by the DfE confirmed that students taking GCSE exams in mathematics, physics, and combined science in 2025, 2026, and 2027 will continue to receive formulae and equation sheets. The decision, backed by strong support, aims to boost student confidence and reduce exam stress.
In line with the DfE’s guidance, Ofqual has updated its rules to require exam boards to publish support materials ahead of each exam season, to promote consistency and familiarity for both students and educators.
This underscores the value of targeted support strategies that help address knowledge gaps and the specific challenges both students and teachers face in preparing for exams across different subjects.
Which subject did pupils excel in?
A grade seven or above is considered outstanding, equal to a grade A – A* under the previous system.
Across all 15 subjects analysed, Chemistry had the most students achieving a grade of 7 or above in 2024, at 58.6%. This was followed by the two remaining science subjects both with an average of over 50%, and music and German which over 42% of students received an “outstanding” grade.
Interestingly, the percentage of students achieving a grade of 7 or above hit a peak in 2022, took a dip in the following year, but began to increase again this year. This initial fall could be due to several reasons, including the government’s efforts to reverse the grade inflation process they put in place during the pandemic.
Where in the UK has the highest number of teacher vacancies and in which subject?
Using Government data and looking at the 15 subjects we analysed, there were a total of 319 teacher vacancies across all subjects in England, with the highest in Science at 65 available jobs.
Across the regions, the South East had the highest vacancy rate, with 87 jobs listed across all subjects, followed by the West Midlands and the East of England, both with 42 jobs.
Earlier this year, during the 2024 GCSE exam period, the Education Committee called on the Government to invest in programmes to help with the ongoing teacher recruitment and retention crisis. In the past couple of years, there have been a number of reasons why teacher retention has struggled, including behaviour, pay, flexibility and workload.
This comes as data from our Access Education Big Sick Leave Report underscored the impact that increasing workloads and stressful working conditions are having on the teacher recruitment and retention crisis.
Over the last five years, the percentage of teachers taking sickness absence in the UK has continued to increase, rising to 66% in the last year, with ‘mental health or related’ the most commonly stated reason for absence.
Combining all of these factors, it’s no surprise the rate of teacher vacancies is increasing and therefore potentially having an impact on student’s learning and funding.
Correlation between grades achieved and teacher vacancies
Looking at the data gathered, Combined Science and English had the lowest pass rates, and the highest number of teacher vacancies - a trend which shouldn’t be overlooked.
Analysis of the Department of Education’s school workforce statistics suggests that the high number of vacancies in the south east of England is largely due to the increased cost of living in the region. With pay cited as the main reason for resignations, many teachers are struggling to keep up with the increase in costs, and are increasingly leaving the profession altogether.
Due to this high turnover, teacher-to-pupil ratios are increasing, suggesting that students may not receive enough individualised attention when preparing for exams, and teachers may not find the hours they must dedicate to help the student’s revision. This constant cycle of increased workload versus lack of time can have a direct impact on the wellbeing of the staff, increasing the risk of staff absences.
By identifying a correlation between the subjects that require resits and where there are the most teacher vacancies, more time and attention can be invested in pinpointing exactly where support is needed, such as improved training and better support processes.
Utilising tools and software which help provide GCSE content to the students can relieve pressure from teachers and schools could start to see a decrease in the number of resits needed to be taken in both compulsory and non-compulsory subjects.
How to use tools such as Access GCSEPod from the beginning
Although GCSE exams take place in spring, preparation can begin as early as the start of the new school year. To try and reduce the number of resits across the board, schools should consider what educational tools and GCSE content they can introduce to help ensure their students are achieving a grade of four or above, in order to successfully pass and move on to the next stage in their education.
Software such as Access GCSEPod can make learning and exam revision easier for both teachers and students, especially as they return to pre-pandemic exam conditions. With regular users of GCSEPod achieving, on average, one grade higher per subject in their GCSEs, it’s proven that delivering short bursts of engaging content, while allowing teachers to adapt their ways of teaching to meet each student’s needs, can make an impact on the final results attained.
On the findings, Emma Slater, Head of Product at The Access Group, commented:
“Understanding the reasons why students might be failing in these subjects, and noticing that teachers simply don’t have enough time to dedicate to each student, is just one way to curb this pattern for future GCSE results. The rise in the number of students needing to resit compulsory subjects highlights just how important teacher-student relationships and readily accessible resources are.
“It is clear that schools and external bodies also need to recognise that many teachers are overwhelmed with the number of students that need support, alongside their new GCSE students. The stress and pressure to meet both funding conditions and academic targets are contributing to a concerningly higher turnover rate, with more educators exiting the sector altogether each year.
“Our ‘Resit Reality Report’ has pinpointed the subjects students struggle most with in this year’s exams, and where the gaps in the education sector lie. Our GCSEPod data has also identified the common mistakes and reasons behind declining grades, offering teachers and schools the insights needed to provide dedicated support for those who need to resit this academic year.
“We strongly encourage that education institutes look to introduce solutions, like GCSEPod, to better support staff workloads, meet performance expectations, and hopefully attract new teachers to address the increasing number of vacancies across the country. In doing so, schools can not only improve grade outcomes but also create a more sustainable and supportive working environment for their teachers.”
Mandy Coalter, Founder of Talent Architects, said:
“Teacher recruitment is going to continue to be a national challenge for the country given the fact that we have missed training targets in many subjects for many years and the new Government’s ambition to recruit an additional 6,500 teachers. There is no question that vacancies impact education quality for pupils, however, schools do work really hard to find innovative ways of mitigating this. There is a job for the Government to do to tackle teacher supply nationally, raising the status of the profession and tackling pay and we are seeing steps on this.
“However, all the evidence tells us that it is the leadership dynamics within the school itself that impact staff retention. This means schools have a vested interest in becoming great places to work so people choose to stay. That includes developing leaders to be great leaders of people; supporting staff professional development and offering a more flexible working environment. The recent Teach First survey of Generation Z teachers highlighted the importance of the latter – this is a generation committed to a job with purpose and they want to be trusted with flexible working options.
“One of the benefits of a great place to work is that your current staff will recommend you to others and most potential teachers and employees will be local to your school. Schools can take a number of steps to improve their recruitment and talent management strategies. Working with teaching school hubs they can ensure new teacher supply and early career development as well as access to NPQs and development.
“Day-to-day recruitment processes in schools can often still be clunky, old-fashioned and paper-based and in a competitive market it is important to address these. Schools should have a fantastic website that showcases the opportunities they offer for prospective employees, they should use technology such as an applicant tracking system to ensure a slick process for applicants to apply and the ability to save and store applications, join a ‘talent pool’ to register interest and receive jobs by email. The recruitment process needs to treat candidates as high-value customers! It should really showcase what the school has to offer.”
Methodology
Using GCSE results for all subjects in schools across England from 2022-2024 from Ofqual, Access Education determined the pass rate (grade 4 - 7) for each subject, as well as the number of students that must resit a core subject.
As well as looking at which subject required the most resits, Access Education also used Government data to identify which region and subject has the most teacher vacancies as of September 2024.
Using data from its GCSEPod product, Access Education then determined the common reasons that students fail their exams for each subject.
