GCSE history and geography provision in secondary schools in England
The percentage of secondary schools in England that provide GCSE history and/or geography.
Documents
Details
- Date requested: 21 January 2013
- Date responded: 15 February 2013
Request
One of the intentions behind the English Baccalaureate is to ensure that history and geography remain an option at key stage 4. Too many schools are simply not offering the opportunity to study these subjects. The English Baccalaureate is designed to reverse the decline in these subjects, whilst leaving room in the curriculum for pupils to study compulsory subjects and a suitable range of options.
Could you please provide the percentage of secondary schools in England who:
- offer neither GCSE history or geography
- offer GCSE history but not geography
- offer GCSE geography but not history
- offer both GCSE geography and history
If you do not hold the information in this form then please provide the information that you used as evidence to make your statement which I have quoted above.
Response
The table below shows the number and percentage of state-funded schools with/without pupils sitting full GCSEs in geography or history.
Years: 2008-2012 (figures for 2012 are revised, all other years are final).
Coverage: England (state-funded mainstream schools).
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of schools no full GCSE geography | 111 | 143 | 138 | 139 | 137 |
| -of which do have full GCSE history | 74 | 97 | 95 | 107 | 114 |
| Percentage of schools no full GCSE geography | 4% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
| Number of schools no full GCSE history | 74 | 71 | 71 | 58 | 43 |
| -of which do have full GCSE geography | 37 | 25 | 28 | 26 | 20 |
| Percentage of schools no full GCSE history | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 1% |
| Number of schools no full GCSE geography or history | 37 | 46 | 43 | 32 | 23 |
| Percentage of schools no Full GCSE geography or history | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Number of schools with full GCSE geography and history | 2,944 | 2,916 | 2,892 | 2,873 | 2,867 |
| Percentage of schools with full GCSE geography and history | 95% | 95% | 95% | 95% | 95% |
This table shows exam entries by school and subject as an indicator of what subjects were on offer – ie where a school has no exam entries in GCSE geography and/or history, it is highly likely that they are not offering that GCSE as an option.
The figures provided do not show entry numbers, which in some schools may be very low.
More information about the proportion of pupils entered for GCSE geography and history are available in the revised statistical first release academic year 2011 to 2012.