Official Statistics
Perceptions of A levels, GCSEs and other qualifications: wave 20
Results of an annual survey of heads of schools, teachers, general public, parents, students, employers and higher education institutions in England.
Applies to England
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Details
Main findings
To capture the extraordinary nature of the events and arrangements put in place in 2021 as a response to the pandemic, a separate set of questions specific to 2021 was introduced in Wave 20, which mirrored some of the general questions. Therefore, the survey questions were split into two sections this year: a general section to capture longitudinal trends, and a 2021-specific section. The main findings are also separated accordingly as follows.
Overall confidence in GCSE, A level, and Applied General qualifications
- Overall confidence in GCSE and Applied General qualifications in general was broadly consistent with wave 19, while general overall confidence in A levels increased.
- General confidence in A levels increased among all stakeholder groups apart from employers and HEIs, among whom it remained broadly level. Notably, among these employers and HEIs, it was also the case that general confidence in GCSEs decreased in comparison with wave 19.
- For Applied General qualifications there were no statistically significant shifts in overall confidence across any of the stakeholder groups
Perceptions of the qualifications system in 2021
- Asking respondents to think specifically about their perceptions of qualifications in 2021 rather than just their more general outlook highlighted the impact that the changes in 2021 had on perceptions of qualifications in that year. In 2021, GCSEs and A levels appeared to be perceived as less understood, trusted and consistent in standards when compared to thinking about these qualifications generally.
- There was no difference between 2021-specific and general perceptions when it came to Applied General qualifications being ‘understood by people’. There was also less agreement that GCSEs, A levels and Applied General qualifications in 2021 were ‘good preparation for further study’.
- These differences in levels of agreement between 2021-specific and general perceptions tended to be more prominent in the case of GCSEs and A levels than for Applied General qualifications, apart from in the case of whether the qualifications were ‘good preparation for work’, where a larger gap was recorded for Applied General qualifications
- Teachers and head teachers were similarly as likely to say they were aware of the appeals against results process in place for Applied General qualifications in 2021 as they were of the normal review of marking and moderation and appeals process.
- Respondents were less aware of the modified appeals against results process in place for GCSE and A level results in 2021 than they were about the usual review of marking and moderation and appeals process
- Those who teach GCSEs or A levels were less likely to agree that they had ‘adequate information about what constituted malpractice in 2021’ in comparison with their more general awareness. Conversely, those who teach Applied General qualifications were similarly as likely to feel they had ‘adequate information about what constituted malpractice in 2021’ versus in general.
- Teachers of GCSEs and A levels were less confident that ‘incidents of malpractice were fairly investigated’ and properly reported in 2021, while there was no difference in the among teachers of Applied General qualifications when thinking about fair investigation of incidents of malpractice.