<P> Statistics released by London's Poverty Profile found overall GCSE attainment in London to be greater than the rest of England . 39% of pupils in Inner London and 37% in Outer London did not get five GCSEs at A * to C, compared with 42% in the rest of England . Also, according to an ITV News report, UK students tend to outperform Jersey students on GCSE examinations . </P> <P> Gender bias is another area of concern . Department of Education data shows that the relative performance gap between boys and girls widened significantly under GCSEs, compared with O - Levels . </P> <P> The declining number of pupils studying foreign languages in the UK has been a major concern of educational experts for many years . Paul Steer, the Exam Board Chief of the British exam board OCR recently expressed that "unless we act soon, even GCSE French and German could face the chop". </P> <P> Moreover, the publication of "soft" subjects (e.g. Critical Thinking, General Studies etc .) and "academic" subjects (e.g. Mathematics, Sciences, Languages) for GCSEs and A-Levels by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge has created an ongoing educational debate where, on the one hand, many educational experts would support this "division of importance" whereas, on the other hand, many head teachers would not only disagree but actually "oppose a move to solely traditional academic GCSE (and A-Level) subjects". </P>

What is classed as a pass in gcse