[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-206577-105":59,"doc-detail-206577-en":124},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":117,"head_meta":119,"extra_data":121,"updated_unix":123},105,"en","comparing-gcse-performance-in-england-and-wales-equivalent-or-not","Comparing GCSE performance in England and Wales - equivalent or not?","","International education policy debates often use international comparisons to judge the skills young people develop, yet system, cultural, and economic differences limit causal conclusions. Less attention is given to within-UK comparisons between England and Wales, which share structures and exams pre-devolution but diverge afterward. The analysis tracks trends in 5+ GCSEs or equivalent and in English and maths grades, showing how reforms that change the inclusion and weighting of vocational qualifications—and subsequent GCSE specification and grading changes—affect comparability and apparent performance gaps.",{"@graph":69,"@context":116},[70,84,99],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/comparing-gcse-performance-in-england-and-wales-equivalent-or-not/206577/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"author":86,"headline":65,"publisher":89,"fileFormat":92,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":93,"datePublished":93,"encodingFormat":92,"isAccessibleForFree":94,"interactionStatistic":95},"DigitalDocument",{"name":87,"@type":88},"Chloe Bennett","Person",{"url":74,"name":90,"@type":91},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-05",true,{"@type":96,"interactionType":97,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":98},"ViewAction",{"@type":100,"mainEntity":101},"FAQPage",[102,108,112],{"name":103,"@type":104,"acceptedAnswer":105},"Why are comparisons of GCSE performance between England and Wales difficult?","Question",{"text":106,"@type":107},"Differences in education policy after devolution and changes in how vocational qualifications are counted can distort year-to-year comparability. Wales also reflects bilingual and system differences, and both countries altered GCSE measures and specifications over time.","Answer",{"name":109,"@type":104,"acceptedAnswer":110},"How did the inclusion of GCSE-equivalent vocational qualifications affect overall performance trends?",{"text":111,"@type":107},"From the mid-2000s, performance increases on 5+ GCSEs or equivalent rose faster in England. The analysis links much of the rise in headline measures to increased uptake of vocational qualifications, while noting concerns about their longer-term benefits.",{"name":113,"@type":104,"acceptedAnswer":114},"What do the data show about maths and English results in Wales versus England?",{"text":115,"@type":107},"Pupils in Wales tend to have lower maths and English GCSE outcomes, with around 10% fewer children achieving grade C or higher in 2012-13 compared with England. The gap narrows after certain rule changes in England but remains lower in Wales, and later GCSE specification changes further reduce comparability.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":118,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":90,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":120,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":122,"site_id":62},206577,1788594911,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":125},{"doc_id":122,"user_id":126,"nickname":87,"user_avatar":127,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":128,"file_id":129,"file_url":130,"file_type":131,"file_size":132,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":29,"language":133,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":134,"faqs":135,"seo_title":136,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":123,"read_time":137},962084925782,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","Comparing GCSE performance in England and Wales – equivalent or not?  \nLuke Sibieta, Research Fellow, Education Policy Institute  \nJanuary 2019  \nInternational comparisons are popular in education policy debate as they illustrate the differences in the skills young people have acquired. However, it can be difficult to draw reliable conclusions about the effectiveness of different policy approaches from international comparisons as there are also vast differences in education systems, cultures, social structures and economies.  \nWhilst international comparisons feature heavily in education debates, there is less focus on crossnational comparisons within the UK. Different exams in Scotland and a mostly segregated school system in Northern Ireland make such comparisons difficult. Apart from the bilingual system in Wales, England and Wales shared a common set of school structures and exams up to the point of devolution, and have gradually been diverging ever since.  \nWhat can we learn from existing data comparing England and Wales, and how could we learn more?  \nEngland-Wales differences are increasingly shaped by GCSE-equivalent vocational qualifications  \nThe proportion of children in England and Wales achieving 5+ GCSEs or equivalent at A*-C was very similar between 1995 and 2002. From the mid-2000s, performance on this measure increased substantially in both countries, though the rate of increase was much faster in England. By 2011-12, 82 per cent of children in England achieved this threshold compared with 73 per cent in Wales. This compares with around 50 per cent in both countries just a decade earlier.  \nFigure 1 – Proportion of pupils achieving 5+ GCSEs or equivalent at A*-C in Wales and England over time  \n2013/14: GCSE & equiavlent  \n2015-16 and 2016-17: GCSE andequiavlent rule changes in Wales  \nPercent ach ieving 5+ GCSEs or equ iv. A* -C  \n90  \n80  \n70  \n60  \n50  \n40  \n30  \n20  \n10  \n0  \nrule changes in England  \n|  | England | | |  |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n|  | | |  | |\n|  | | | |  |\n|  | | Wales |  |  |\n| |  |  |  |  |\n|  |  |  |  |  |\n|  |  |  |  |  |\n|  |  |  |  |  |\n|  |  |  |  | |\n\n2016-17: New GCSEs in England ad Wales  \nSource: Stats Wales, Key Stage 4 examination results ([https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Education-and-Skills/Schools-and](https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Education-and-Skills/Schools-and)  \nTeachers/Examinations-and-Assessments/Key-Stage-4); GCSE and Equivalent Results, 2014-15 and 2015-16 ([https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-stage-4)[stage-4](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-stage-4))  \nMost of these substantial increases in performance occur after equivalent qualifications were included in headline measures of performance in the mid-2000s in England and Wales. The 2011 Wolf Review of Vocational Education concluded that a rapid uptake of vocational qualifications in England could account for a large part of the rise in headline performance over time. It also concluded that these vocational qualifications were likely to be of less long-term benefit to pupils than standard GCSEs. Concerns have also been raised about the effects of early and repeated entries in both England and Wales.  \nIn response, GCSE performance measures were substantially reformed in England from 2013-14 to restrict the contribution vocational qualifications could make (e.g. only from an approved list and not counting for more than one GCSE) and to only count pupils’ first attempt at GCSEs. The large downward revision to results in 2013-14 in England was a direct result of these changes. New GCSE specifications and a 9-1 numerical grading structure also began to be phased in from 2016-17.  \nFollowing a similar review of qualifications, Wales introduced limits on the contribution vocational qualifications could make in two steps in 2015-16 and 2016-17 (e.g. counting for no more than","cbCaireJBF8eiBJW","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaireJBF8eiBJW","pdf",790706,"English","# Comparing GCSE performance in England and Wales\n## International comparisons and UK-specific challenges\n## GCSE-equivalent vocational qualifications and headline trends\n## Reforms affecting equivalence and comparability\n## Maths and English outcomes: persistent Wales-English gap","[{\"question\":\"Why are comparisons of GCSE performance between England and Wales difficult?\",\"answer\":\"Differences in education policy after devolution and changes in how vocational qualifications are counted can distort year-to-year comparability. Wales also reflects bilingual and system differences, and both countries altered GCSE measures and specifications over time.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the inclusion of GCSE-equivalent vocational qualifications affect overall performance trends?\",\"answer\":\"From the mid-2000s, performance increases on 5+ GCSEs or equivalent rose faster in England. The analysis links much of the rise in headline measures to increased uptake of vocational qualifications, while noting concerns about their longer-term benefits.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the data show about maths and English results in Wales versus England?\",\"answer\":\"Pupils in Wales tend to have lower maths and English GCSE outcomes, with around 10% fewer children achieving grade C or higher in 2012-13 compared with England. The gap narrows after certain rule changes in England but remains lower in Wales, and later GCSE specification changes further reduce comparability.\"}]","Comparing GCSE performance in England and Wales - equivalent or not? | PDF",15]