A study has revealed that Berkshire students ranked fourth in the UK for outstanding GCSE results, with almost 35% of students achieving Grade Seven or above in core subjects.

The 2023 Knowledge Gap Report, by Access Education, analysed 2022 data revealing that Berkshire students ranked in the top five for achieving seven and above grades in all core subjects; physics (60.3%), English language (29.6%), English literature (29.2%), chemistry (60.7%), biology (61.2%), combined science (13.3%) and maths (30.6%).

Overall, 34.9% of Berkshire students achieved grade seven or above. Coming in first place was Rutland, followed by Buckinghamshire and Surrey in second and third place, respectively.

Senior Content Product Manager at Access Education, Emma Slater, said: “GCSEs are the culmination of two years of hard work, and mark a very significant part in their life. From choosing their options at the start of the year to receiving their results in the summer, the whole process can influence a student’s future experience in education or the working world. 

“Exams are already stressful and if the new Department for Education proposals come into force, pupils who fail GCSE English and maths could be banned from taking out student loans in the future too, raising the stakes even further.

“Even with the highest standards of teaching, there are numerous other factors that could affect a student’s grades, including economic background – and as our research has shown, there are big disparities within regions and subjects. Using a digital learning platform for GCSE revision content can help schools to monitor where pupils are excelling or where they need extra support, and can tailor their teaching accordingly, helping to close the gaps.” 

Reading Chronicle:

Results of the study by Access Education

 

Chemistry was the subject with the highest achievers. In 2022, the percentage of students across the UK achieving a Grade 7 and above ranged from 63.7% (Greater London) to 36% (Suffolk). 

Ex-Headteacher and Examiner, Lesley Moule, said: "No one wants to see regional disparity in education. The areas with the biggest knowledge gaps have also seen a decline in traditional employment so it’s really important that students do not have knowledge gaps. Governments have tried to re-focus employment opportunities in ‘the north’ and surely do not want employees in these areas to lack skills that employers value.

"It's important to note that COVID and economic factors will have almost certainly played a role in these findings. Sociologists tell us the importance of economic factors in education and not all schools are as well-resourced as others. In some areas, it is difficult to recruit and retain teachers. Math teachers, in particular, are very hard to find and students in a catch-up situation are not always taught by specialists which is far from the ideal.

"Students had a very disrupted couple of years.  For some, reintegration has been difficult and there are students that have not returned to school, preferring home education. But similarly, not every student's experience of working from home was as successful. In short, the results, albeit worrying, were not unexpected but the regional disparities give cause for concern.”

Read the 2023 Knowledge Gap Report for more results.