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It describes the reform timeline, including increased challenge, the shift from modular to final exams, and the move from letter to numeric grading. Using education attainment data and empirical methods, the report analyzes pupil-level outcomes across key grade ranges and subjects. Results indicate small overall changes and only limited widening of the disadvantage gap, with some effects concentrated among middle achievers.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@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/making-the-grade-the-impact-of-gcse-reforms-on-the-attainment-gap-between-disadvantaged-pupils-and-their-peers-executive-summary-conclusions/206339/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/making-the-grade-the-impact-of-gcse-reforms-on-the-attainment-gap-between-disadvantaged-pupils-and-their-peers-executive-summary-conclusions/206339.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Oliver","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-21","2026-09-05",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",15,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What GCSE changes were introduced in 2015 and implemented in 2017 and 2018?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"Reforms increased challenge, shifted assessment from modular to final exams, and changed grading from letters (A*–G) to numbers (9–1). The goals included improving standards and making top grades rarer.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"How did the attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils change during the reform period?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"The report finds only a small impact on widening the disadvantage attainment gap. After accounting for school factors and pupil characteristics, test scores for disadvantaged pupils fell slightly relative to non-disadvantaged pupils.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"What happened at key grade boundaries under the new GCSE grading system?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"Differences at the A/7 and C/4 boundaries are minimal due to maintaining boundaries for consistency, but there may be impacts at other grade levels. The share achieving the very top grade declined for disadvantaged pupils compared with the old A* benchmark.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},206339,1788592140,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":140,"language":141,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":142,"faqs":143,"seo_title":144,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":130,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},8796095461610,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","MAKING THE GRADE  \nThe impact of GCSE reforms on the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers  \nSimon Burgess and Dave Thomson – December 2019  \nAbout the Sutton Trust  \nThe Sutton Trust is a foundation which improves social mobility in the UK through evidencebased programmes, research and policy advocacy.  \nCopyright © 2019 Sutton Trust. All rights reserved. Please cite the Sutton Trust when using  \nmaterial from this research.  \nAbout the authors  \nSimon Burgess is Professor of Economics at the University of Bristol. His current research interests are in the economics of education, including the importance of teachers, pupils and schools, market structure in education, incentives, and choice. He has also worked on the performance of ethnic minorities in schools and ethnic segregation.  \nDave Thomson is chief statistician at FFT. He has over fifteen years’ experience working with educational attainment data to raise attainment in local government, higher education and the commercial sector. His current research interests include linking education and workplace datasets to improve estimates of adult attainment and studying the impact of education on employment and benefits outcomes.  \nExecutive Summary .......................................................................................................................3  \nIntroduction .................................................................................................................................. 4  \nGCSEs are important .................................................................................................................4  \nContext: the reforms and the reactions ........................................................................................ 5  \nMethodology ................................................................................................................................. 7  \nEmpirical methods..................................................................................................................... 7  \nThe National Pupil Database ......................................................................................................8  \nOutcomes ................................................................................................................................. 9  \nGCSE reforms and the attainment gap .......................................................................................... 13  \nMain pupil-level results............................................................................................................ 14  \nAttainment at key grades.......................................................................................................... 16  \nChanges by subject ..................................................................................................................... 20  \nAttainment in English and mathematics ....................................................................................20  \nVariation between subjects ....................................................................................................... 22  \nSummary and conclusions ........................................................................................................... 23  \n• Reforms to GCSEs were introduced in 2015, with the first cohorts taking the new exams in 2017 and 2018 across a range of subjects. The major changes comprised of more challenging material, a move from modular assessment to a focus on final exams, and a change in the grading system from letters (A*, A…G etc), to numbers (9, 8…1) . The aims of the reforms were to improve standards overall by making courses harder and increase differentiation by making the top grades rarer.  \n• Pupils are overall entering slightly fewer GCSEs since the reforms, but the gap in entries between disadvantaged students and others has decreased.  \n• There has been a slight increase in those achieving grades 9-4 (equivalent ","cbCaimm6DnSXLoh8","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimm6DnSXLoh8","pdf",497728,26,"English","# Executive Summary\n# Introduction\n## GCSEs are important\n## Context: the reforms and the reactions\n# Methodology\n## Empirical methods\n## The National Pupil Database\n# Outcomes\n## GCSE reforms and the attainment gap\n## Main pupil-level results\n## Attainment at key grades\n## Changes by subject\n## Attainment in English and mathematics\n## Variation between subjects\n# Summary and conclusions","[{\"question\":\"What GCSE changes were introduced in 2015 and implemented in 2017 and 2018?\",\"answer\":\"Reforms increased challenge, shifted assessment from modular to final exams, and changed grading from letters (A*–G) to numbers (9–1). The goals included improving standards and making top grades rarer.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils change during the reform period?\",\"answer\":\"The report finds only a small impact on widening the disadvantage attainment gap. After accounting for school factors and pupil characteristics, test scores for disadvantaged pupils fell slightly relative to non-disadvantaged pupils.\"},{\"question\":\"What happened at key grade boundaries under the new GCSE grading system?\",\"answer\":\"Differences at the A/7 and C/4 boundaries are minimal due to maintaining boundaries for consistency, but there may be impacts at other grade levels. The share achieving the very top grade declined for disadvantaged pupils compared with the old A* benchmark.\"}]","MAKING THE GRADE - The impact of GCSE reforms on the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers - Executive Summary & Conclusions | PDF",66]