STUDENTS?across the county have been congratulated by Hampshire County Council’s executive member for education as provisional GCSE results, which were published last Thursday, indicated a strong showing in spite of tough new standards in the core subjects.

For the academic year starting in September 2015, more demanding content was introduced by the Government and exam boards for GCSEs in maths, English language and English literature.

Additionally, the Department for Education has introduced a completely new method of GCSE grading for those subjects. This summer, for the first time, results have been rated using a scale of one to nine, with nine being top of the scale. With this new system, the benchmark of performance has been significantly raised.

Commenting on the results, county councillor Peter Edgar said: “Firstly, I would like to congratulate Hampshire’s GCSE pupils on their hard work and achievement.

“Even with the more rigorous new standards, our indications are that young people in Hampshire have achieved good results and the vast majority will be going on to further study or training with a good set of the core qualifications under their belts.

“The Government’s new GCSE curriculum and radical change in grading has set the bar far higher for maths and English. It would be inaccurate to try and compare this year’s results in those subjects with performance in previous years, and wholly unfair on the students to do so. With two systems temporarily running in parallel for different subjects, it is also a challenge to summarise the performance of schools.

“That said, early indications from schools would indicate that the underlying trend in outcomes is an improvement on previous years in Hampshire.

“I would urge parents and pupils to remember that any perceived dip in English and maths results may not, in fact, reflect a drop in performance in these subjects, but a consequence of the move to a new grading system. Secondary schools, colleges and training providers will take these new benchmarks of success into consideration on applications for further study or vocational training.”

Mr Edgar continued: “Hampshire’s pupils, their families, and schools can be very proud of this year’s results. The high calibre of teaching staff in our county is a big factor in the good GCSE results we see each year. I know that the announcement of GCSE results can be an equally rewarding moment for a great many teachers who are passionate about their work, and committed to doing all they can to help students to achieve. They should feel justly proud of having prepared young people so well, for the next stage of their lives.”

While maths, English language and English literature have adopted a new system, other subjects remain with the familiar A*-G grading system for this year – moving to the new grading system over the next few years.

Mr Edgar added: “The future is very bright for young people as the range of options for study after their GCSEs keeps on growing. Those who are drawn to academic study can pursue college courses and may even look forward to higher education, but we now also have plenty of options in Hampshire for anyone keen to get straight into work, and start building skills and working experience from an early age.

“As a major employer, the county council itself takes on around 100 apprentices and trainees each year, providing a variety of roles from office work to social care or even construction.

“If any young student receiving their results is now unsure of their next step, I would urge them to contact our results day helpline on 01962 846193 for advice.”

n As GCSE exam results were released on August 24, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has sought to issue a last-minute reminder to parents who receive child benefit and child tax credits to inform them of their child’s educational status ahead of today’s deadline (Thursday, August 31), otherwise payments will stop.

Parents can use their personal tax account to update both their child benefit and child tax credit information online in a matter of minutes. Twelve million customers have registered so far.

Parents must let HMRC know if their children are aged 16 or older and continuing in full-time education or are undertaking an apprenticeship. Alternatively, if a young person leaves education or training – for example, to start full-time work or because their course has ended, claimants must report this change straight away to prevent the build-up of overpayments, which they will have to pay back.

Angela MacDonald, director general of customer services at HMRC, said: “Once parents or guardians know what their child has decided to do it’s really important they let us know as soon as possible, so they continue to get the right benefits and credits.

“This can be done quickly and simply using the personal tax account, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That means that parents can let us know their child’s education status, at a time that suits them ahead of the August 31 deadline.”