The independent evaluation of the pilot of the linked pair of GCSEs in mathematics - First interim report

The impetus for change to the assessment of mathematics at GCSE level began with Adrian Smith’s report, Making Mathematics Count (2004). The response to some of the criticisms in the report was the development of a new programme of study (PoS) for mathematics that placed the emphasis on problem solving, functionality and mathematical thinking. New criteria and a new single GCSE in mathematics was developed for first teaching in September 2010 alongside the pilot of the linked pair of GCSEs in mathematics.

This report is the second of seven formative evaluation reports on the pilot of the linked pair of GCSEs in mathematics. The report focuses on the centres and students who participated and engaged in the pilot, on reported changes to teaching and learning caused by the pilot qualifications and their assessment, and on the extent to which these changes parallel those caused by the introduction of the new single GCSE in mathematics.

The aim of the evaluation, to consider the extent to which the linked pair of GCSEs offers a different experience of learning mathematics from the new single GCSE, is addressed by looking at: attitudes to mathematics, comparability of demand of the pilot qualifications both with each other and with other GCSEs in mathematics, and the views of centres (both pilot and non-pilot) on the pilot.

Includes:

• Introduction
• Methodology
• Research findings
• Summary and conclusions

DFE Research Report RR181 (PDF 42pp)
DFE Research Report RR181 Appendices (PDF 48pp)

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