by Mark Corney
Around 37% of 16 year olds in England do not achieve at least a grade 'C' GCSE in mathematics and 34% do not so in English. Everyone agrees that 16 year olds without a Level 2 in English or mathematics should continue to study these subjects until they reach this minimum standard until they are 18. The disagreement is over the type of qualification young people must take to achieve a Level 2 in these key subjects, namely GCSEs or functional literacy and numeracy level 2 programmes.
