lifetime earnings of a GCSE

The price or value of a successful GCSE has been revealed for the first time from a study by the department of education .

Though all of this has to be taken with a pince of salt. As There are much bigger factors at play. GCSE results are just a tiny part. While the one thing is for sure. Private education gets higher GCSE results.

An official analysis shows that every higher exam grade is worth an extra £23k.

Department for Education (DfE) have quantified the link between higher / better exam results at age 16 and earnings.

Pupils who achieve just one grade higher in their GCSE subject will go on to earn an increae £23,000 more over their lifetime.

And pupils who secure one grade higher than their peers in each of their nine subjects can expect to earn an extra £207,000 before they retire.

The increase in lifetime earnings differs depending on the subject. Each higher grade in a maths GCSE is worth an extra £14,579 over a lifetime while a higher grade in music is worth just £5,453.

Meanwhile, one grade up in for English literature will lead to £6,504 in their lifetime. £8,151 for drama; and £11,319 for history.

Nick Gibb, the schools minister, said: “We are taught from a young age to do well at school to better our life chances, and today we see tangible, robust evidence to support this.

“GCSEs equip young people with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed and this data shows how small improvements to grades can have a huge overall impact on people’s lives.”

While school heads GCSEs create “winners and losers” and said there is an “overwhelming case” to axe the current grading system.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Nobody is going to be particularly surprised that children who attain higher GCSE grades earn more in their lifetimes because they are obviously more likely to progress to higher education and well-paid jobs.

“What is more surprising is the lack of recognition that we will always have winners and losers in the GCSE grading system because the distribution of grades is determined by a mechanism which means it is largely similar from one year to the next.”

He said that under the current grading system, about one third of children at the age of 16 do not pass their GCSEs in maths and English.

“This is baked into the system. If we persist with this approach there will always be a ‘forgotten third’ who are likely to fare less well in life than other children,” Mr Barton said. “It is a key feature of the cycle of disadvantage which continues to blight our society.”