Ministers urged to act over numbers failing English and maths GCSEs

Study finds serious impact on life chances and mental health of young people amid calls to reassess resits policy in England

The government has been urged to reassess what a social mobility expert has called the national scandal" of teenagers leaving school without GCSE passes in English and maths despite multiple retakes.

Ahead of this summer's GCSE results being published on Thursday, Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said his research suggested too many young people lacking the qualifications had lower chances of future success and increased reports of poor mental and physical health.