GCSE and GCSE Short Course Results 2009

[27.08.09]

GCSE and GCSE Short Course Results - 2009; GCSE Religious Studies Beats the Trend.

The data here is taken from JCQ where the full results may be found. http://www.jcq.org.uk/

GCSE Results

As widely predicted there has been an overall increase in the number of As and A*s being awarded: 21.6% of students in the UK received these top grades, an increase of 0.9 percentage points. Similarly the percentage of students receiving A* to C grades has risen massively from 65.7% to 67.1% - an increase of 1.4 percentage points. Religious Studies has seen a similar increase, with 73.4% of students receiving A* to C grades – 0.9 percentage points up on last year.

However, as was seen in the A-levels results, the real story for RS is the continued growth in interest in the subject. 182288 students took the subject this year while only 179139 who took it last year: an increase of 1.8% on. This is particularly impressive since overall the number full course GCSEs taken has dropped for a third year in a row – from 5669077 to 5469260, a decrease of 3.6%. Given this general trend, the continued 10 year growth in the number of students taking the Religious Studies full course GCSE is surely illustrative of how vital and vibrant the subject can be.

**UK GCSE results in Religious Studies and selected other subjects**
Subject	No. sat	% of total sat	A*	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	U
Religious Studies	182288 [179139]	3.3 [3.2]	12.6 [13.2]	32.7 [32.6]	55.0 [54.4]	73.4 [72.5]	85.0 [84.2]	92.0 [91.5]	96.3 [96.0]	98.6 [98.5]	100 [100]
Geography	196018 [203862]	3.6 [3.6]	10.6 [10.4]	27.1 [26.6]	45.3 [44.8]	68.5 [68.2]	83.9 [83.3]	91.8 [91.4]	96.1 [95.8]	98.2 [98.1]	100 [100]
History	219809 [226702]	4.0 [4.0]	11.0 [10.7]	30.4 [29.5]	51.1 [50.1]	69.0 [68.0]	82.1 [80.8]	90.4 [89.4]	95.4 [94.8]	98.2 [97.9]	100 [100]
Social Science Subjects	30670 [30954]	0.6 [0.5]	3.6 [3.6]	15.6 [14.2]	33.0 [31.0]	61.2 [59.1]	79.4 [77.6]	88.6 [87.2]	92.9 [92.1]	95.2 [94.6]	100 [100]
All Subjects	5469260 [5669077]	100 [100]	7.1 [6.8]	21.6 [20.7]	41.5 [40.5]	67.1 [65.7]	83.6 [82.3]	92.1 [91.4]	96.5 [96.1]	98.6 [98.4]	100 [100]

Figures for 2008 are shown in [brackets], results by grade are cumulative percentages.

GCSE Short Course Results

The Religious Studies Short GCSE course maintains its place as the most popular GCSE short course this year, with 56.3% of all students taking it. This of course reflects the fact that RE is a statutory subject, and the majority of students no doubt want to get a RS GSCE short course grade for doing it. However, it is a real credit to RE teachers that such a high percentage of students achieved A* to C grades (54.3%), particularly when those students may not have counted the subject as one of their strongest or favourites. Congratulations must therefore go to all RE teachers and their students for acheiving so much at this level.

**UK GCSE Short Course results in Religious Studies and selected other subjects**
Subject	No. sat	% of total sat	A*	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	U
Religious Studies	286941 [293756]	56.3 [55.6]	6.0 [5.8]	17.7 [17.3]	34.9 [34.5]	54.3 [53.7]	69.5 [68.5]	81.8 [80.8]	90.6 [90.0]	96.5 [96.1]	100 [100]
Geography	2530 [2570]	0.5 [0.5]	2.8 [3.1]	10.3 [11.1]	21.3 [22.5]	43.5 [45.1]	60.3 [63.0]	74.0 [77.0]	84.2 [84.8]	91.1 [90.5]	100 [100]
History	3537 [3488]	0.7 [0.7]	4.3 [5.4]	14.8 [14.9]	30.3 [28.8]	47.2 [44.8]	62.7 [58.5]	74.8 [71.9]	84.6 [83.1]	93.1 [92.0]	100 [100]
Social Science Subjects	292 [298]	0.1 [0.1]	1.0 [1.3]	7.2 [5.7]	18.2 [22.1]	42.1 [44.3]	66.8 [67.4]	81.5 [83.6]	91.4 [92.6]	97.3 [98.0]	100 [100]
All Subjects	509218 [528325]	100 [100]	4.9 [4.5]	15.9 [15.2]	33.2 [32.1]	54.2 [53.0]	70.8 [69.1]	82.9 [81.5]	91.2 [90.3]	96.6 [96.0]	100 [100]

Figures for 2008 are shown in [brackets], results by grade are cumulative percentages.

Summary

65% of all students taking GCSEs in England this summer passed in Religious Studies - 25% taking the full course and 40% the short course. The overall position is similar to last year’s but with a slight shift from the short to the full course.

The full course results are above the national average for all subjects:
A*              12.2%   (national average 7.1%)
A* + A       32.3%   (national average 21.5%)
A* to C     73.1%   (national average 66.9%)

Although the gender balance in the numbers taking the full course is only slightly weighted towards girls (55% - 45%), they achieve significantly better than boys in the top gradings:
A*                   Girls 15.1%     Boys 8.5%
A* + A           Girls 38.2%:    Boys 25.0%
A* to C     Girls 78.4%    Boys 66.7%

It is important to note that a recent study conducted by the University of Durham, Relative Difficulty of Examinations in Different Subjects, found Religious Studies to be in the middle of the 'hard-soft' scale, similar to English Literature and History (see Unlocking RE's resport: http://news.reonline.org.uk/article.php?27). Therefore, students' excellent performace in RS at GCSE level should not be put down to RS being a 'soft option', but rather must be due to the hard work and excellence of both the students and the teachers.

James Robson 27/08/09