The positioning of GCSE and Functional Skills in Further Education: how do vocational students make sense of post-16 mathematics pathways?

Figures & data

Table 1. Student characteristics.

		Number	%
Gender	Male	66	35.3
	Female	108	57.8
	Other/ not specified	13	6.9
Age	16	42	22.5
	17	58	31.0
	18	47	25.1
	19+	32	17.1
	Not specified	8	4.3
Current maths qualification	Functional Skills Entry 3	30	16.0
	Functional Skills Level 1	37	19.8
	Functional Skills Level 2	19	10.2
	GCSE	95	50.8
	Not specified	6	3.2
	Total	187	100.0%

Figure 1. Attributes of mathematics qualifications (all qualifications).

Figure 2. Students’ current and chosen qualifications.

Table 2. Examination pass rates by qualification.

Mathematics qualification	FS E3	FS L1	FS L2	GCSE
Sample pass rate, 2019	95.0%	50.0%	33.3%	31.9%
College pass rate, 2019	–	–	–	38.3%
National pass rate, 2019	94.0%	65.0%	56.7%	17.3%

Note: National data from DfE (2020a, 2020b). Dashes represent unavailable data.

Figure 3. Attributes of mathematics courses by qualification.

Figure 4. Examination mark distributions for FS and GCSE qualifications.

Department for Education. (2020a). Level 2 and 3 attainment in England: Attainment by age 19 in 2019. Retrieved from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/881199/Level_2_and_3_attainment_by_19_2019_statistical_commentary.pdf

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Department for Education. (2020b). National achievement rates tables 2018 to 2019. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-achievement-rates-tables-2018-to-2019

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