New gold-standard GCSEs prepare pupils for careers Britain needs
Pupils across the country prepare to take new GCSE exams this week.

Minister for School Standards Nick Gibb
- This week marks the start of exam season, where a further 20 new GCSEs will be sat for the first time
Hundreds of thousands of pupils are preparing to take new, more rigorous GCSE exams this week, which are on a par with the best performing education systems in the world, the School Standards Minister announced today.
皇冠体育app gold-standard qualifications for 20 new GCSEs 鈥� including the sciences, French, German, Spanish, history and geography 鈥� have been designed with employers in mind. 皇冠体育appse qualifications are underpinned by more rigorous content, preparing pupils for future careers in the industries that Britain needs. 皇冠体育app new science GCSEs now include space physics and the human genome and the new Computer Science GCSE now includes a greater focus on programming.
Schools Standards Minister Nick Gibb said:
皇冠体育appse more rigorous, gold-standard GCSEs are helping to nurture the next generation of scientists, linguists and historians. Whatever pupils want to do with their lives, these qualifications will prepare them for future success and help deliver the skills Britain needs to be fit for the future.
Thanks to our reforms and the hard work of teachers, education standards are rising in our schools and last year, teachers and pupils responded well to the new English and maths exams. I wish pupils all the very best as they prepare to sit these exams and I look forward to celebrating their success in the summer.
CBI Managing Director for People and Skills policy Neil Carberry said:
A world-class education has the power to give young people the knowledge and character needed to navigate a rapidly changing world. CBI members welcome the Government鈥檚 commitment to high educational standards in schools, of which the new GCSEs are part.
Just doing well in exams isn鈥檛 enough though - firms want to see all young people leave education as well-rounded individuals. 皇冠体育appy appreciate what teachers and leaders are doing in schools to develop great people - and are ready to step up and do more themselves. As part of today鈥檚 important focus on knowledge, this partnership must also ensure we are prioritising teaching that encourages critical thinking, creativity, and teamwork.
皇冠体育app start of these exams follows the recent news of funding to train up to 8000 existing computing teachers to teach the new GCSE 鈥� that is enough to ensure every secondary school in England has a teacher who can support pupils to succeed.
皇冠体育app new GCSEs will be graded 9 to 1, with 9 being the top grade to allow more differentiation between the highest performing pupils and so that employers can identify the new, more rigorous qualifications.
It builds on the success of last year鈥檚 changes to GCSE maths and English which saw 59.1 per cent of pupils achieving a grade 4 or above.
Standards are rising in schools thanks to these reforms and the hard work of teachers, which has resulted in 1.9 million more children in good or outstanding schools than 2010.
皇冠体育app government鈥檚 Industrial Strategy highlighted a shortage of STEM skills. 皇冠体育appre is a need to increase number of people able to study for STEM degrees to support the current economy and its growth. 皇冠体育app reforms to GCSEs and A levels, as well as these teaching programmes are just two of the ways this is being achieved.