English and maths for 16 to 18 year olds: effective teaching

The objectives of this study was to:

• identify effective teaching of English and mathematics, particularly in non-selective further education settings
• understand whether institutions with significantly above-average results differ to other institutions
• understand why there are variations in pass rates across non-selective institutions
• identify any effective practices that could be replicated

Commenting on maths and English re-sits Nansi Ellis, assistant general secretary of education policy and research at the National Education Union, said:

“The Department for Education’s report shows just how much work college teachers and lecturers are doing to support learners who are forced to re-sit English and maths GCSE.

“This is a ridiculous policy, causing damage to the self-esteem of learners and increasing the already excessive workloads of teachers and lecturers. National Education Union members also tell us that colleges are finding it very difficult to recruit and retain teachers in these subjects, and that both teaching and the re-sits are causing huge logistical problems to the detriment of learning across other curriculum areas. We have heard of colleges having to temporarily shut down the whole college site to all students except the English and maths re-sitters in order to timetable teaching and, to sit their exams.

“We agree that forcing students to re-sit English and maths GCSEs is extremely demotivating and that there are far better ways to support learners to gain the English and maths they need for their future careers and learning.”