Students withdrawn from GCSE exams (FOI)

Request

A

Please advise the numbers of pupils that sat each of the GCSE subjects, by secondary school, during the 2018 / 19 academic year.

I am aware that percentages in relation to pass rates are already available, however I feel this is meaningless unless the number of students is also known.

B

Please advise how many students were in year 11 for each school at the time the GCSEs were taken.

C

Please advise:

(i) the number of students withdrawn from taking GCSEs by subject and;

(ii) the reason for their withdrawal.

• withdrawn through student choice – ie student made the choice not to sit the exam

• entered the exam room and then withdrawn prior to finishing the exam

• began GCSE subject in Year 10 but withdrawn from the subject before GCSE exam - school led or student led

Response

A

The numbers of pupils that sat each of the GCSE subjects, by secondary school, during the 2018 / 19 academic year:

GCSE Subjects Sat by Secondary School Pupils

Due to the small number in some subjects, the Department have determined that to provide those figures would likely breach the privacy of the individuals and therefore, Article 25 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

In addition, due to the small number of pupils attending La Sente, disclosure control has been applied to all La Sente data, which is shown as less than 10 (<10).

 B

The number of students in Year 11 at the time the GCSEs were taken.

There is a small discrepancy in some schools between the number of Year 11 students and the total number of students taking GCSEs. This is because some students from other year groups may take GCSEs in that academic year.

C

The number of students withdrawn from taking GCSEs by subject:

Due to the small number in some subjects, the Department have determined that to provide those figures would likely breach the privacy of the individuals and therefore, Article 25 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

In relation to reasons for withdrawal, we have provided totals across all the secondary schools:

*Schools would like to note that parents / carers of students are contacted by the school for a meeting to discuss their child withdrawing from a GCSE course. The decision not to continue is made in conjunction with parents / carers, the students and their teachers.

Article Applied

Article 25 Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.

(3) In determining for the purposes of this Article whether the lawfulness principle in Article 8(1)(a) of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 would be contravened by the disclosure of information, paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 2 to that Law (legitimate interests) is to be read as if sub-paragraph (b) (which disapplies the provision where the controller is a public authority) were omitted.