Early GCSE entry damages children's education, says Gove But he added that it had become "a damaging trend that is harming the interests of many pupils." "It seems likely that candidates are being entered before they are ready, and "banking" a C grade where their performance at [primary school] would suggest that if they had continued to study the subject and taken the GCSE at the end of Year 11 they could have achieved a top grade," he said. This is of particular concern in mathematics, where there is high progression from A*/A grade at GCSE to A level, but low progression from grades B and C. In addition, I believe that this speaks more generally of a narrowed curriculum, focused not on sound subject teaching as a basis for successful progression, but on preparation to pass exams. Research by the Department for Education shows that in 2007 a total of 67,000 pupils sat GCSEs in English and maths before the traditional exam time - the summer of their final year. Two per cent of pupils took early English and five per cent sat early maths - often between six months and two years before other pupils. But by 2010, 24 per cent of students took English early, along with 27 per cent for maths - a total of 326,000 entries. Figures also show a clear link between early exams and poor results. In 2010, 29 per cent of those entering early got at least a B in GCSE maths, compared with 37 per cent of all entrants. Some 30 per cent of early English entrants received a B or better, against 41 per cent nationally. Mr Gove said: "[This] suggests that candidates who enter early perform worse overall than those who do not, even after re-sits are taken into account." The comments come after the head of Britain's biggest exam board raised concerns that teachers may be entering pupils for early exams due to the pressure of league tables. Speaking last year, Andrew Hall, chief executive of the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, said: "Our conjecture is that students might be being entered in the winter to see how they get on and then re-sitting it in summer if they don't get the grade their school thinks they should." He added: "If it's teachers choosing to enter their students early because they're ready to take the exam, I would say that's fine. If it's teachers feeling the pressure of league tables and entering students early to see if they get through the hurdle or not, I'm not sure that is fine.