The biggest GCSE knowledge gaps in the UK revealed

Amid ongoing concerns about evolving exam formats post-pandemic, Ofqual pledges continued support for 2022 and 2023, with a final year extension. However, students preparing for GCSEs in 2025 onwards must adhere to pre-pandemic guidelines, emphasising the need to master fundamental tools like equations and formulas.

While the Department for Education advocates for this shift, some argue for permanent aids to ensure fair grade comparisons across cohorts. Others assert that the 2024 cohort, facing comparatively lesser disruptions, should prioritise thorough revision for future progression.

The 2024 Knowledge Gap Report

To learn more about the outcome of GCSE assessments across the country, and where schools may need to work to close the gap in the 2024 exam season, we created the 2024 Access Education Knowledge Gap Report.

We collated Ofqual data outlining GCSE grades from 2023 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) and broke it down by county, so we could analyse the figures.

Where are the biggest GCSE knowledge gaps?

 

County	Selected grade	Overall % of grades (all subjects)
Merseyside	3 and below	35.2
Staffordshire	3 and below	33.8
West Midlands	3 and below	33.8
Bedfordshire	3 and below	33.8
Cornwall	3 and below	33.3
South Yorkshire	3 and below	33.3
East Riding of Yorkshire	3 and below	32.5
Lancashire	3 and below	32.1
Norfolk	3 and below	32.0
Northamptonshire	3 and below	31.9

 

Across all the 15 subjects analysed, Merseyside was the area with the biggest knowledge gap. On average, 35.2% of the grades achieved by children in that area were three or below. This was followed by Staffordshire, West Midlands and Bedfordshire which all had average grades of 33.8.

Computer Science was the subject with the biggest knowledge gap overall. In 2023, the percentage of students across the UK achieving grade three or below ranged from 25.3% (Berkshire) to 54.8% (Herefordshire).

Where in the UK has the highest GCSE grades?

A grade seven or above is considered outstanding, equal to a grade A – A* under the previous system.

County	Selected grade	Overall % of grades (all subjects)
Surrey	7 and above	31.6
Buckinghamshire	7 and above	30.8
Hertfordshire	7 and above	29.8
Berkshire	7 and above	29.6
Greater London	7 and above	29.5
Rutland	7 and above	28.9
Oxfordshire	7 and above	28.1
Warwickshire	7 and above	26.7
Cambridgeshire	7 and above	26.4
County of Bristol	7 and above	26.2

 

Which location is most likely to have the most students resitting exams?

Under current rules, any students achieving a grade three or below in maths, English language or English literature will need to resit their GCSE exams.

Students in Merseyside achieved the biggest percentage of this grade bracket in maths (34.9%), making them most likely to resit. Merseysdie also had the biggest knowledge gap for English language (34.2%) and English literature (31.9%), with students achieving a grade of three or less, requiring a resit.

On the other hand, Buckinghamshire was the highest achieving location for maths (31.6%) and English language (26.5%) grades, with students receiving a grade of seven or more.

Greater London was also in the top three for maths (29.2%) and English literature (29.4%) grades.

Top 10 Areas With Knowledge Gaps In Maths

Rank	County	Selected grade	Overall % of grades (all subjects)
1	Merseyside	3 and below	34.9
2	Shropshire	3 and below	33.0
3	West Midlands	3 and below	32.8
4	Staffordshire	3 and below	32.4
5	East Riding of Yorkshire	3 and below	32.3
6	South Yorkshire	3 and below	31.8
7	Tyne and Wear	3 and below	31.2
8	Cornwall	3 and below	31.2
9	Durham	3 and below	30.6
10	Greater Manchester	3 and below	30.5

 

Top 10 Areas With Knowledge Gaps In English Language

Rank	County	Selected grade	Overall % of grades (all subjects)
1	Merseyside	3 and below	34.2
2	Cornwall	3 and below	33.5
3	Staffordshire	3 and below	33.2
4	Herefordshire	3 and below	33.0
5	South Yorkshire	3 and below	32.5
6	Cumbria	3 and below	32.5
7	West Midlands	3 and below	32.4
8	East Riding of Yorkshire	3 and below	32.4
9	Tyne and Wear	3 and below	32.4
10	Lancashire	3 and below	32.4

Closing the data skill gap

As highlighted in the Skills Shortage Bulletin 2024, there is a significant demand for roles within the digital sector, health and social care and the green sector to name a few.

GCSE content covered in courses like computer science, combined science and geography could help young people to understand the key elements needed to fulfil these in-demand roles. So where are the highest achievers in these areas?

• In Berkshire, 34.8% of students gained seven or higher in 2023 for computer science, followed by Oxfordshire (34.3%) and Hertfordshire (32.4%).
• For combined science, Greater London came out on top with 12.8% of students receiving a grade of 7 or above followed by Hertfordshire (12.3%) and Surrey (12.1%).
• In Geography, Surrey had the highest achieving students with 37.4% gaining a grade of 7 or above, followed by Hertfordshire (35.8%) and Berkshire (33.7%).
• Herefordshire had the biggest knowledge gap for computer science (54.8%), Merseyside for combined science (41.2%) and the West Midlands for geography (44.3%).

Future impact

GCSE grades have not only been seen to influence a pupil’s higher education and which career path they may choose to take, but also their overall social and emotional development, including their wellbeing.

A study^[1] undertaken by researchers at the Universities of York and Leeds has found that those who achieve good grades at GCSE level are more likely to have positive personality traits such as strong perseverance, motivation and being conscientious in the future.

In addition to this, the study also recognised that other factors, such as a child’s economic background could have an impact on their grades and, ultimately, their future, with those from less affluent backgrounds feeling the effects the most.

By identifying where the biggest knowledge gaps lie with both subject and location, schools and the Department of Education can see where they need to focus on to ensure higher grades are being achieved and students are being supported.

GCSEPod Knowledge and Confidence Gap Analysis Report

Based on the data from over 80,000 GCSE students, answering over 6 million questions, GCSEPod's ‘Knowledge and Confidence Gap Analysis Report’ 2023/24 has pinpointed the areas where students are struggling across core subjects.

The report highlights that students exhibit uncertainty and hesitation in foundational knowledge and the application of that knowledge across most subjects:

• In English language, students are struggling with how to use apostrophes and quotation marks (69.1% incorrect attempts), with basic punctuation an area of low confidence.
• In Maths, students are struggling most with recalling and correctly applying formulae (66.7% incorrect attempts), and dividing fractions (62.9% incorrect attempts).
• In Combined Science, the commonality of errors relating to equations and data could mean that inadequate understanding of mathematical skills and process may be affecting both confidence and attainment.

The data also shows that students attainment is lowest when tasked with analysing and interpreting complex texts and applying concepts. Whether it’s understanding sentence structures, analysing literature, using mathematical formulae, or employing scientific principles, students face challenges in applying their knowledge to higher-order tasks.

Making GCSE content less intimidating

Preparation for the GCSE exams will typically start at the beginning of the year, giving students a head start ahead of the assessments in spring. By using educational tools such as GCSEPod, the learning processes can be made a lot easier for both students and teachers. These tools deliver short bursts of content that are engaging to watch while teachers can adapt their lesson plans and ways of teaching to meet each student’s individual needs.

On average, regular users of GCSEPod achieve one grade higher in their GCSEs and 0.7 more Progress 8 points than non-users.

Some schools even have the learning content tools open for all of their students, from ages 11 to 16, as they have seen just how impactful it can be for pupils and the school itself.

Methodology

To identify the areas in England with the biggest knowledge gaps, Access Education analysed GCSE results data for 2023 from Ofqual to identify the areas with the highest percentage of grades between 3-1 - deemed to be a fail at GCSE. The same principle was applied to identify the areas with the highest achievers (grades 7-9).

As well as looking at the overall average percentage across all subjects, the research also looked at 15 of the most commonly taken subjects: maths, English language, English literature, combined science, biology, chemistry, physics, business, French, geography, history, German, Spanish, computer science and music.