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Pending GCSEs and equivalency tests

Providers are currently asked to indicate how flexible they are around the GCSE requirement by answering a question for each subject (maths and English, plus science for Primary courses).

UCAS uses this information to block candidates from applying for a course if they do not have the relevant GCSE grades and the course provider has selected the ‘least flexible’ option.

Screenshot of existing GCSE question.
Existing GCSE question

The original design for this question used two separate questions instead - one on pending GCSEs and one on equivalency tests. However this was implemented differently for compatibility with UCAS.

First iteration

Candidates will not longer use UCAS for the 2022 to 2023 cycle. This gave us an opportunity to revisit this question.

We initially did a very minimal change to the question, removing the UCAS references and changing the guidance to indicate that candidates would be ‘discouraged but not blocked’ from applying if they did not have the relevant GCSE grade.

Screenshot of first iteration.
First iteration

Usability research with providers revealed that the phrasing of this question was confusing. Providers did not always understand that the answers were on a scale and that the ‘equivalency test’ option also included those taking the GCSE.

Providers also confused the ‘equivalency test’ option with the ‘or equivalent’ option, which was intended to cover non-GCSE equivalents such as O levels or international qualifications.

Second iteration

We decided to return to the original (unimplemented) design, and ask separate questions for pending GCSEs and equivalency tests.

For the pending GCSE question, providers are unable to say which subjects this applies to. Research indicated that providers would either accept pending GCSEs or not, and that this would not vary by GCSE subject.

The equivalency test option does vary by GCSE subject though, as some providers indicated that they could offer these tests in some subjects but not others.

We also added an optional text field to allow providers to give further details on their equivalency tests, as research indicated that there were some variations around this, and that there may be other information that candidates need to know.

Screenshot of second iteration.
Second iteration