Tracking the June 2020 Key Stage 4 Cohort: Progression to Post-16 Study. Research Report

Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Shaftesbury Road Cambridge CB2 8EA. Tel: 44-1223-553311; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/

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Postsecondary Education; Higher Education; Secondary School Students; Achievement Tests; Exit Examinations; Comparative Analysis; Academic Achievement; COVID-19; Pandemics; Student Characteristics; Educational Objectives; Standards; Grades (Scholastic); Databases; Institutional Characteristics; Evaluation Methods; Disadvantaged; Socioeconomic Status; Academic Persistence; Withdrawal (Education); Foreign Countries

This research will investigate the impact of awarding centre assessment grades (CAGs) on the education system. The focus will be on the progression to post-16 study of the students who sat General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and/or other Level 1/2 qualifications in June 2020. The uptake of qualifications/subjects taken during the first year of Key Stage 5 will be studied and compared to the progression of students in a previous cohort (those achieving qualifications in June 2019, pre-pandemic). This work will be a first look at the progression (with a focus on uptake) of the June 2020 Key Stage 4 cohort. Once Key Stage 5 results for this cohort become available (for most students after the June 2022 exam session), retention and performance can be investigated. As it has been suggested that the pandemic has affected some groups of learners more than others (Cullinare and Montacute, 2020; EEF, 2020; DfE, 2021a), this research will also investigate the progression to post-16 education of specific groups of students to understand the impact of the CAGs on the destinations of different demographic and socio-economic groups (e.g., disadvantaged children). [This work was produced using statistical data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).]

ERIC

2022

ED622060