Education officers dismiss official exam result figures

By Carole Dennett

The Isle of Wight is languishing at the bottom of county league tables for this year’s examination results, despite some successes for individual pupils.

Island students disappointed with their results may have good reason to blame the Island’s education system. Figures released by Ofqual, the body that regulates English exams, show that, overall, the Island’s GCSE and A-level results are lower than any other county and, on a coloured map depicting results, are so far below others that the Island has its own colour code.

Across all subjects, only 62.9 per cent of Island students achieved a standard pass at GCSE (Grade 4 and above), 11 per cent below the English average. At 15.7 per cent, we also score badly on higher grades (7 and above), a good indicator of future A-Level success, lagging more than 10 per cent behind other English students.

Delving into individual subjects is also revealing. Although the sample size is small, only two in 10 Island pupils who studied GCSE Physics achieved higher grades; nationally five in 10 do. At A-Level the picture is similarly bleak. Just 71.2 per cent of Island students were awarded a grade C or above, 11.5 per cent below the national average.

The best universities want high A-Level grades. The highest A* grade was given to just 7.7 per cent of Island entrants, half the national average of 14.5 per cent. In 2013 our education outcomes were so bad that the government ordered the Isle of Wight Council to enter into a strategic partnership with Hampshire County Council, whose officers took over the leadership of the education department and promised that GCSE exam results would be at the national average by September 2016. That target has never been reached.

Debbie Andre

The initial five-year deal was renewed by the previous Conservative administration in 2018. It costs Islanders more than £1 million a year and will be up for renewal next year. We asked officers why Island results were so poor, what they were doing to improve them, when they expected improvements and what their targets are. Their response failed to even mention the Island’s results against national standards, clearly hoping that more detailed data on smaller areas would flag up worse results elsewhere.

Their statement said: “Ofqual’s data is not at a local authority level and has amalgamated data to create larger areas. Within those, there will be areas of strength and weakness and we need to wait for the full breakdown of results before jumping to conclusions. “That said, all school leaders know that we need to improve standards on the Isle of Wight as outcomes remain too low. Individual schools are telling us that they have secured improvements this year, but the full data set published in October will allow for further interrogation.”

We have asked them again to answer our questions. Debbie Andre, the council’s cabinet member responsible for education, acknowledged that the figures show change is needed. She said: “It’s disappointing that, despite hard work by teachers and students and interventions put in place to address weaknesses, this year’s results show that we need to do things differently. Exam results are not the whole story but are one indicator of educational improvement. “This administration is committed to raising Island educational standards and I will be working with council staff to identify barriers to improvement and develop a new strategy that will enable our young people to achieve their full potential and able to follow their chosen career paths.” You can find the national Ofqual results at bit.ly/IW-Exams2022.

Featured header image – Map of A-Level results Grade C and above – All subjects