GCSE, Functional Skills and Resits: A Plain English Guide for Parents

Grade 4. Functional Skills. Level 2. Resits. Foundation papers. Access arrangements. Ofqual. SEND. Post-16 funding.

This guide explains the key terms in plain English, so you can understand your child’s options, ask better questions and feel less lost in the system.

A GCSE resit is when a young person takes the GCSE exam again after not achieving the grade they need.

Many students resit GCSE English or GCSE Maths at college or sixth form after Year 11. Some pass the next time. Many do not.

For some young people, resitting can be the right route. But for others, being asked to repeat the same exam format again and again can damage confidence and motivation, especially if that format has already failed to let them show what they can do.

Fairer Exams believes young people should not be forced to keep repeating the same exam if that assessment format does not work for them.at does not work for them.

Functional Skills are practical English and maths qualifications.

They test how young people use English and maths in real-life situations. This might include reading information, writing clearly, understanding money, using measurements, working with percentages and solving everyday problems.

For some pupils, especially those with SEND, dyslexia, autism, ADHD, anxiety or slower processing speeds, Functional Skills can be a better way to show the literacy and numeracy skills they genuinely have.

Functional Skills Level 2 is the highest commonly used level of Functional Skills English and maths.

For many education, training and work routes, it is accepted as a Level 2 qualification in English or maths. In apprenticeships, Ofqual-regulated Functional Skills qualifications can be used as acceptable English and maths qualifications.

However, there is still a major problem. Many employers, parents and students do not understand what Functional Skills are.

In the Fairer Exams survey, around 85% of employers said they had either never heard of Functional Skills or did not know what the qualification meant.

This matters because a qualification can only open doors if people recognise and value it.

That is why Fairer Exams believes Functional Skills-style assessment should be built into GCSE Foundation English and maths, rather than being seen as a separate or second-best route.

GCSEs in England are graded from 9 to 1.

Grade 9 is the highest grade. Grade 1 is the lowest GCSE grade. A grade 4 is usually treated as a standard pass, and a grade 5 is often called a strong pass.

GCSEs are not marked to a fixed quota. There is no official rule that says a certain number of pupils must fail.

However, GCSE grades are used to compare schools. Each grade can be turned into a score for school performance measures, including Attainment 8 and Progress 8.

English and maths matter even more because they are double weighted in these measures.

This means a school’s GCSE English and maths results have a significant impact on how that school is judged.

Functional Skills English and maths are different from GCSEs.

They are practical qualifications that test whether a young person can use English and maths in real-life situations.

But Functional Skills are usually pass/fail qualifications. They do not have the same 9 to 1 grades as GCSEs.

This means they do not create the same kind of score for school performance tables.

That can create pressure for schools to keep pupils on the GCSE route, even when a Functional Skills-style assessment may be a better way for some young people to show what they can do.

Fairer Exams believes this creates a serious problem.

If schools are judged mainly by GCSE grades, and Functional Skills do not count in the same way, then Functional Skills can end up being treated as second-best.

Young people should not have to choose between a qualification that is widely recognised and an assessment format that actually works for them.

Level 2 is the qualification level usually linked to GCSE grade 4 and above, or Functional Skills Level 2.

English and maths at Level 2 are often treated as important qualifications for progression into further study, apprenticeships and work.

This is why GCSE English and maths results matter so much. They are not just exam grades. They can become gatekeepers to the next stage of a young person’s life.

Level 3 is the next stage of education after GCSE-level study.

Examples of Level 3 qualifications include A levels, T Levels, BTECs and some advanced apprenticeships.

Many young people need to move onto a Level 3 course after Year 11 if they want to go to university, access higher-level training or qualify for certain careers.

But not having GCSE English and maths at grade 4 or above can make this harder. Some colleges or courses may not allow a young person to start a Level 3 course unless they have passed English and maths, even if they are capable of studying the subject they want to do.

This is one reason Fairer Exams believes the current system needs to change.

An apprenticeship combines paid work with training.

Many apprenticeships require evidence of English and maths. Functional Skills can be accepted in some apprenticeship routes, but the qualification usually needs to be Ofqual-regulated.

Parents should always ask the apprenticeship provider exactly which English and maths qualifications are accepted.

Criterion-based assessment means pupils are judged against clear skills or standards.

In simple terms, it asks: can the young person do this skill?

Criterion-based assessment means pupils are judged against clear skills or standards.

In simple terms, it asks: can the young person do this skill?

Functional Skills is closer to this style because it focuses on practical competence. It looks at whether a young person can use English and maths effectively in realistic situations.

Fairer Exams believes pupils working towards grades 1 to 4 should have access to a more practical, criterion-based route inside GCSE Foundation English and maths.

GCSE grading is not a simple checklist.

Ofqual says GCSEs are not marked to a fixed quota, and there is no rule that a third of pupils must fail.

However, the current system is designed to keep grades comparable from one year to the next. That means a grade 4 this year should represent roughly the same standard as a grade 4 last year.

Fairer Exams believes this system does not work fairly for every pupil, especially when GCSE English and maths are used as a gateway to future opportunities.

A young person’s future should not depend on one narrow assessment format if there are other valid ways to demonstrate the same essential skills.

A foundation paper is a GCSE exam paper designed for pupils working towards the lower and middle grades.

In GCSE Maths, pupils can be entered for either foundation or higher tier. The foundation tier has a maximum grade.

Fairer Exams believes there should also be a clearer GCSE Foundation route in English and maths that includes practical, Functional Skills-style assessment for pupils working towards grades 1 to 4.

This would allow more young people to demonstrate essential literacy and numeracy skills in a format that reflects how those skills are used in real life.

A higher paper is a GCSE exam paper aimed at pupils working towards the higher grades.

For pupils aiming for grades 5 to 9, the current GCSE system could stay in place.

The Fairer Exams campaign is focused on creating a fairer route for pupils trying to reach the essential grade 4 gateway.

Ofqual is the regulator for qualifications, exams and assessments in England.

Ofqual does not write GCSE papers itself. Exam boards write the papers. But Ofqual sets rules and regulates the qualifications system.

Fairer Exams believes regulators, exam boards and policymakers need to look more closely at whether the current GCSE English and maths system gives every learner a fair opportunity to show what they know.

SEND stands for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

This can include dyslexia, autism, ADHD, speech and language needs, processing-speed difficulties, working-memory difficulties, anxiety, physical disabilities and many other needs.

Many young people with SEND are capable of learning English and maths. But they may struggle to show what they know in a high-pressure GCSE exam format.

This is one of the central concerns behind the Fairer Exams campaign.

Exam boards are organisations that set and mark exams.

Examples include AQA, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC/Eduqas.

Schools choose which exam board they use for each subject.

Exam boards play a major role in the way questions are written, how papers are structured and how accessible assessments are for different learners.

Fairer Exams believes exam design should involve stronger SEND expertise, so papers are written with neurodiverse learners in mind from the start.

Access arrangements are support measures that some pupils can use in exams.

These may include extra time, rest breaks, a reader, a scribe, a smaller room or using a laptop.

Access arrangements are meant to give disabled pupils or pupils with additional needs a fairer chance to show what they can do.

They can be extremely helpful. But they do not always solve the deeper problem of whether the exam format itself is fair.

Processing speed means how quickly someone can take in information, understand it and respond.

A pupil with slower processing speed may understand the work but need more time to read, think and answer.

This can make timed GCSE exams especially difficult.

A young person may know how to solve a problem, but struggle to process the wording, hold the information in mind and produce an answer quickly enough under exam conditions.

Working memory is the ability to hold information in your mind while using it.

For example, a maths question may ask a pupil to read a paragraph, remember several numbers, choose the right method and calculate an answer.

A pupil with working-memory difficulties may understand the maths but lose track of the information in the question.

This is one reason long, word-heavy exam questions can be particularly difficult for some learners.

Persistent absence usually means a pupil has missed a significant amount of school.

Many persistently absent pupils are dealing with anxiety, mental health difficulties, unmet SEND needs, illness, bullying, family stress or other barriers.

These pupils are much less likely to pass GCSE English and maths.

Fairer Exams believes the exam system must take seriously the needs of young people who have already faced barriers to attendance, learning and confidence.

Free School Meals, often shortened to FSM, is used as a measure of disadvantage in education data.

Pupils eligible for Free School Meals are, on average, less likely to pass GCSE English and maths than pupils who are not eligible.

Fairer Exams believes the current system is leaving behind many of the young people who already face the biggest barriers.

Post-16 simply means education or training after Year 11.

This could include sixth form, college, apprenticeships, traineeships or other training.

Young people who do not achieve grade 4 or above in GCSE English and maths usually have to continue studying those subjects after Year 11.

For some, that leads to a successful resit. For many others, it means repeating the same exam format with the same result.

This is one reason Fairer Exams believes more practical assessment routes should be available earlier, before young people experience repeated failure.

Fairer Exams believes the current system is leaving behind many of the young people who already face the biggest barriers.

Fairer Exams is calling for Functional Skills-style assessment to be built into GCSE Foundation English and maths.

For pupils working towards grades 1 to 4, there should be a practical route that tests real-world English and maths skills.

This should happen before pupils fail, not after.

We are not asking to replace GCSEs.

We are not asking to lower standards.

We are asking for fairer ways to prove them.

Too many families only learn about Functional Skills, resits and alternative routes after their child has already failed.

Fairer Exams believes young people should have fairer ways to show essential English and maths skills before they experience repeated failure.

Sign the Fairer Exams petition to support our call for Functional Skills-style assessment to be built into GCSE Foundation English and maths.

You can also watch the TEDx talk to hear the story behind the campaign and why change is needed.