영국 교육정보

□ 역대 최고 성적
- 2009 GCSE 결과 8월 27일 발표
- 총 지원자수 670,000명(예년 비해 80,000명 감소)
- 지난 21년의 GCSE 시험 역사상 가장 높은 점수 기록
- A* 또는 A 등급 비율 : 21.6%, 예년에 비해 0.9% 증가. 여학생의 24.4%, 남학생의 18.7%
- C 등급 이상 비율 : 2/3 이상
- G 등급(통과 최저 등급) 이상 통과 비율 : 98.6%, 예년에 비해 0.2% 상승

□ 2009 GCSEs 결과 분석
- 남녀학생의 성적 차이는 A*-C 등급에서는 다소 좁혀졌으나 A*-A 등급에서는 확대됨.
- 1997년 이래 처음으로 수학 전 과목에서 남학생이 여학생보다 높은 성적 거두는 등 남학생의 성적 향상이 두드러짐. 이는 과제(coursework)가 없어진 것이 시험에 강한 남학생들에게 유리하게 작용한 것으로 보임
- 전통 과목 지원자 상승폭 두드러짐 : 물리학 21%, 화학 20%, 생물학 18%, 수학 2.21%(응시자 수 가장 많음)
- 외국어 학습 학생 수의 감소 : 불어 6.6%, 독어 4.2% 지원자 수 감소. 아랍어, 벵갈어, 러시아어 지원자 수 소폭 상승
- 학교별 A* 또는 A 등급 획득 학생 비율
 사립학교 53.7%, 2.5% 상승
 그래머 스쿨(grammar school) 55%, 0.4% 상승
 공립학교 17.3%, 0.9% 상승
 각 학교별 격차는 전년에 비해 다소 줄어들었음
- 정부 주도의 새로운 중등자격 시험 '디플로마(diploma)' 결과 최초 발표
 213명의 학생이 최초로 시험 응시
 91명이 GCSE의 A*-C 등급에 해당하는 상위 등급 획득
 GCSE의 A*-A 등급에 해당하는 최상위 등급 획득 응시자 없음
 절반의 응시자가 GCSE의 C에 해당하는 등급 획득, 1/4 응시자 낙제
 디플로마는 2년에 걸친 자격시험으로 내년 12,000명의 학생이 최초로 자격증을 받게 됨


□ GCSE 결과에 따른 학교 운영 변화
- 정부 목표 : 일반 중등학교 대상 영어, 수학을 포함한 5개 이상의 과목에서 최소 C를 받는 학생 수 30% 이상
- 이를 넘지 못할 경우 ‘Government’s National Challenge‘ 목록에 속하며, 예년 대비 괄목할 성장이 없는 학교는 해당 지역 교육청에서 제외되고 폐교 후 준사립 학교인 ’아카데미‘로 재개교 됨
- 2007년의 660개, 2008년의 440개 학교가 목표를 달성하지 못한 것에 비하여 2009년에는 그 수가 280개 학교로 크게 줄어듦
- 작년 이에 따라 전환된 아카데미 63개교의 성적 향상 폭은 5.1%로 작년 전국 성적 향상 폭이었던 2.5%에 비해 높은 성과를 거둠
* 아카데미 : 사업체, 대학 등에서 자금 조달을 받아 운영되는 중등교육기관으로 일반학교에 비해 수업 커리큘럼에 융통성이 주어짐


□ 기사 원문 보기


One in five GCSEs passed at A or A*Traditional subjects return to favour and gap between girls and boys closes
Guardian, Thursday 27 August 2009


One in five GCSEs taken this year scored an A or A*, according to record results published today as more 670,000 pupils in England and Wales received their results.

Both the pass rate and the number of top grades edged up again, and there was a return to traditional subjects with the number sitting maths, chemistry, biology and physics leaping.

But the number sitting languages declined for the fourth year in a row since the government made languages non-compulsory for GCSE students, triggering concerns that modern foreign languages are fast becoming the preserve of elite schools.

The government, teachers and exam boards welcomed the results, but they will inevitably spark another row about "dumbing down" as the pass rate edges towards 100%. Only 1.4% of students failed GCSEs this year, which ministers say is due to improvements in schools and pupils taking more appropriate subjects.

The numbers sitting English and English literature and scoring a C or better dropped by 0.2 percentage points, prompting concerns that schools are struggling to teach the subject, despite pressure from the government to prioritise it.

Independent schools got far more of the top grades than comprehensives and their results improved fastest, widening the gap between the sectors. Independent schools were, however, outperformed by students in grammar schools, where 55% of GCSEs scored an A or A*.

The results reveal:

• The proportion scoring an A or A* increased by 0.9 percentage points to 21.6% this year. Nearly one in four GCSEs sat by a girl got the top grades, with 24.4% of entries for girls getting an A or A*, compared with 18.7% for boys.

• The gap between boys and girls narrowed slightly at A*-C grades, but widened very marginally at A and A* grades.

• Entries for physics went up by 21%, chemistry by 20% and biology by 18%. Maths, which has the highest number of entries overall, went up by 2.21%.

• French fell by 6.6% and German by 4.2%. There was a 3.6% reduction in the total cohort size of 16-year-olds this year, accounting for some of the dip, but there will be concerns about the decline in the nation's languages skills. There were small rises in the number entering for other languages, such as Arabic, Bengali and Russian.

• In independent schools, 53.7% of GCSEs sat were awarded an A or A*, compared with 55% in grammars and 17.3% in comprehensives. But those gaps have narrowed very slightly. In the last year private schools improved their A grades by 2.5%, compared with 0.4% in grammars and 0.9% in comprehensives.

• The first results for the government's flagship diplomas were published, with just 213 students receiving awards in the first year.

Mike Cresswell, chief executive of the exam board AQA, presenting the results today, said for the first time since 1997 boys did better at all grades in maths. He said it was probably down to the removal of coursework from the maths GCSE, as boys often thrive in exams compared with girls. Overall the narrowing of the gap at grades A* to C, was a "pretty convincing reduction" since 1997, he said. "In terms of that critical grade C pass, the boys have been over that historic period catching up with the girls."

The rise in maths entries was down to increasing numbers of students taking it early at 15, suggesting that talented pupils are being entered earlier but also that schools are attempting to "bank" GCSE results early in order to focus on other subjects.

That phenomenon has been put down to schools cramming to reach the government's target of 30% of pupils getting five good GCSEs including English and maths. Winter entries also rose this year, following the same pattern.

John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "This year's increase in GCSE passes is very good news for the students, their schools and colleges, and the country as a whole. The demand for well-qualified young people continues to grow and the increase in passes at grades A* to C will produce a further improvement in the proportion of 16-year-olds with at least five high-grade passes in GCSE or equivalent courses.

"Nowhere is this improvement more marked than in the reduction from 1,600 schools in 1997 to around 280 in 2009 with less than 30% of their 16-year-olds having at least five A* to C GCSE passes including English and mathematics."

He added: "No firm conclusions can be drawn from the very small number of students – mainly 17-year-olds – finishing their diploma courses in one year. Schools and colleges continue to put an enormous amount of effort into the development of diploma courses. Logistical problems of timetabling and transport are being overcome and young people are being offered a much wider choice. However, this commitment to the diploma needs to be matched by all political parties – schools cannot plan against a background of uncertainty about what will happen to diplomas after the general election."

John Bangs, head of education at the National Union of Teachers, congratulated students' efforts, but added: "There has been a massive decrease in modern foreign languages, particularly French and German, which is shocking. It's a mistaken cross-party view that they are not essential, which is precisely the opposite of the needs and demands of England in a global economy."