No matter how old we are I suspect we can all remember the grim foreboding before receiving notification of public exam results – the culmination point of years of hard work from students, teachers and in many cases, parents. This is no more true than it is of this year’s GCSE students.
The national results have shown both positives and negatives. Although the headline figure is that overall GCSE results are down, this is in part due to the increase in the number of 17-year olds resitting their Maths and English GCSEs. Opinion on this is divided: some think it's pointless and unfair to require all young people who haven't secured a pass first time to resist. Personally I think these exams (especially Maths and English) are so important that it is something we should be requiring and I welcome the fact that a quarter of those who re-sat a GCSE did achieve a grade C or above in these subjects - which will hold them in good stead for the future.
Students are also focusing on more challenging subjects such as Maths and employer-friendly subjects such as Computing; GCSE Computing entrants were up by 76% with the number of female entrants doubling. It is encouraging to see that young people are channelling their efforts from an early age into areas that will help them secure good jobs which are "future proofed". Our skills in these areas are vital for the success of our economy.
I was delighted to see Horsham schools perform outstandingly well and this is a testimony to the hard work put in by our young people and teachers. Roughly 4/5 of all pupils at Horsham Secondary schools achieved good A*- C in core GCSE subjects and there is much else to be proud of besides.
Good performance in exam results by local school does not however mean anyone, should be complacent. I am very aware of the funding climate in which schools are currently operating which is all the more unfair because of the historic positioning of West Sussex schools compared to per pupil funding in most other areas. This is being changed with the Government introducing a fairer national formula. The implementation of the fairer funding has had to be delayed by the Government for a year. I immediately asked for a "transitional arrangement" - short term extra funding - to be granted to West Sussex. This, with other MPs, I will be pushing for as Parliament resumes next week.