Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions (a) Ministers of his Department and (b) officials in his Department have had with the (i) CBI, (ii) Federation of Small Business and (iii) British Chamber of Commerce on employer-understanding of the recent changes to 9-1 grading for GCSEs.

Officials at the Department have held a number of discussions with the Confederation of British Industry, the Federation of Small Businesses and the British Chamber of Commerce with the purpose of increasing awareness and understanding of the new GCSEs. The Department has also worked with these organisations to communicate the new GCSE grading scale to employers, via the Department’s online factsheets and videos.

Ofqual, the independent qualifications regulator, has also worked with these organisations and other employer groups to support employer understanding. Ofqual published a report on perceptions of the new GCSEs in April 2018. The findings showed that awareness amongst businesses of the 9 to 1 grading scale had doubled from 32% in the previous survey in April 2017, to 68% this year.

Ministers regularly meet employer groups to discuss a range of issues.