Education Leaders Call for End to Compulsory GCSE Resits in English and Maths

Published: 22 August 2025. The English Chronicle Desk

Education experts in England are urging the government to reconsider its policy requiring students who fail to achieve a grade 4 in English and maths GCSEs to resit the subjects during post-16 education. Critics argue that the mandatory resit system is failing many students and has reached a “crisis point.”

Jill Duffy, chief executive of the OCR exam board, highlighted the scale of the issue, revealing that nearly a quarter of all GCSE entries in maths and English are now resits – an all-time high. According to Duffy, less than one in five students who resit achieve the grade 4 required to progress, leaving many trapped in a cycle of repeated examinations.

“Less than a fifth of resitting students achieved the grade 4 they need to break out of the resit cycle. This is a resit crisis,” Duffy said. She emphasised that minor adjustments to existing policies will not resolve the problem and called for a fundamental reform of maths and English education at the secondary level, particularly in Key Stage 3, to better support students who fall behind in these essential subjects.

Education leaders warn that without substantial changes, large numbers of students will continue to struggle, potentially limiting their future academic and career prospects. The debate comes as policymakers consider how to balance accountability in schools with the practical realities faced by students who find these core subjects challenging.

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