Press Release

Youth charity warns of low prospects for thousands of GCSE exam failures

24 August 2005

As pupils await Thursday's GCSE exam results, youth charity The Prince's Trust warns of the low prospects for thousands of young people leaving school this year with no qualifications and few opportunities for work.

With speculation that GCSEs are becoming easier, the rise in achievement only exacerbates the gap between high and low achievers with more than five per cent of young people expected to leave school without any qualifications[1]. This includes the estimated 10,000 15-year-olds who are "missing" from schools in England and are not accounted for anywhere in the system[2].

Leslie Morphy, Director of Programmes and Policy at The Prince's Trust, said: "For most young people getting their GCSE results opens the door to new opportunities. But for thousands of young people leaving school with no qualifications and little chance of finding work, this week may be the beginning of a lifelong struggle to get their lives back on track."

Recent research[3] by The Prince's Trust and The Royal Bank of Scotland Group reveals that England's poorest areas continue to fall behind the rest of the country in reducing the number of young people who leave with no GCSEs. It also shows these educational underachievers have a significant impact on the UK economy, highlighting that productivity per hour in Britain is roughly 20 per cent lower than in Germany, which has been linked to Britain's relatively poor skill performance.

Last year almost half of the young people supported by The Prince's Trust were educational underachievers, including young people with low basic skills, those truanting and those excluded from school.

To address these issues, The Trust is aiming to help more than 40,000 young people this year get back into education, work and training. Many of these young people lack the basic skills and opportunities they need to succeed. Through practical support including training, mentoring and financial assistance, The Trust helps 14-30 year-olds to realise their potential and transform their lives.

[1] Estimate based on last year's results, DfES (June 2005)
[2] OFSTED (2004)
[3] Tackling the Poverty of Opportunity, June 2005

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