I have to admit, despite the fact most things Gove suggests or has implemented usually annoy me, I do partially support him here. When I was at school/college there was such a bad culture of people who would fail their exams or performed poorly because they didn't revise or never listened in class; all because they knew they were able to resit 6 months later and achieve a better grade if they didn't do as well as they wanted first time around. On the other scale, we had students who were achieving 90-95% in their Further Maths exams, getting upset because they didn't come first in their class and wanted the opportunity to resit so they could score a personal victory. Of course there were also people who genuinely had bad luck on the day or struggled under exam pressure and deserved an opportunity to prove their potential once again, but the first two classes of people mentioned above were not the people resits were designed for.
To be honest, I support the resit system, but only if it's well regulated and severely restricted. My experience during my education through GCSE and my A-Levels a couple of years ago told me that we're too soft on some underachievers. Resits should be limited to people who score at least two grades lower than their predicted/estimated grade (i.e. a D when expecting a B), with exceptions given under special circumstances. It should also be limited, generally, to a single resit opportunity, with exceptions given under special circumstances (i.e. a family death). Failing that, I would support a student being permitted to take a second resit, but only if the grade was capped at the next grade (i.e. a C if they had a D for their resits). That would place it closer to the University model, where we're only permitted a resit if we fail, and even then a resit can only achieve a maximum of 40%. It is a great incentive for students to A) not mess up their first try and B) if plagued with personal issues, to report them to their school so arrangements can be made for their circumstances to be considered.