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Numbers decline less for RE than for history as A-level results come out

15 August 2024

LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL SCHOOL

A RECORD number of students in England achieved the top A-level grades this year, and more than four-fifths received a place at their first-choice university, as students found out their A-level results on Thursday morning.

Eighty-two per cent of students were accepted at their first-choice university, up from 79 per cent last year. The number of those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds accepted into university also rose, by four per cent last year, to a record high: a total of 276000 accepted, compared with 26,650 in the previous best year of 2021.

The number receiving top grades in England also rose for the first time since that year. More than one quarter (27.8 per cent) were marked at A* or A.

In Wales and Northern Ireland, the proportions were lower than last year: falling from 34 per cent to 29.9 per cent in Wales, and from 37.5 per cent in Northern Ireland to 30.3 per cent.

The number of students in England and Wales taking religious studies (RS) at A level fell by 1.5 per cent, continuing a trend of year-on-year decline (News, 17 August 2023; News, 19 August 2022).

The decline this year, however, was less marked than the drop in entries for certain other humanities subjects. History fell by 2.3 per cent, and sociology by 6.5 per cent.

The chair of the Religious Education Council, Sarah Lane Cawte, said on Thursday that RS “continues to be a popular A level, grounding students in an academic and personally enriching exploration of life’s biggest questions”.

A lack of specialist teachers of the subject, though, meant that students were “losing out”, and she reiterated calls for a national plan to recruit and resource religious education, to “help the subject once again thrive at its most advanced level in all our schools, preparing students for further academic study, employment and active engagement in our society”.

Recent analysis of Department for Education figures, reported in The Times, indicates that half of those who teach RS do so in addition to a main subject, and that 56 per cent hold no qualification in the subject.

As part of efforts to recruit teachers, a £10,000 bursary for trainee RS teachers has been made available by the Government.

The chair of the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE), Katie Freeman, congratulated students on Thursday, but said: “Sadly, it seems that year on year, the opportunity to study RE at A level is dwindling for far too many. We have a wealth of RE teaching talent in this country. Backing it with support from government and school leaders will allow RS A level to once again become a success story, allowing thousands of students across the country to pursue their interest in life’s biggest questions into university, the workplace and our communities.”

On Thursday morning, the Church of England’s social-media accounts posted a prayer for results day, which described God as “generous without finding fault”, and asked for help to “stay calm as I wait for news”.

Among those offering hope and support to students receiving results was the Bishop-elect of Whitby, the Revd Barry Hill (News, 31 July).

His son received results on Thursday, and Mr Hill defied a tendency by online commentators to suggest that they didn’t matter: “They do and have often been worked hard for,” he wrote, but “no matter what, you are loved and known by God who has a unique purpose for you.”

“The path rarely runs as we expect and gold is often found off track,” he wrote. In his new appointment he will chair the board of education in the diocese of York, and be the diocese’s episcopal lead for growing younger and more diverse.

An expert review of the national curriculum, commissioned by the Government, is currently being undertaken, and is to include consideration of the assessment system.

In a recent House of Lords debate, the Bishop of Chichester, Dr Martin Warner, called for the Church of England to be involved in the review (News, 1 August).

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