GCSE results day: students receive grades

Today marks the day this year's GCSE cohort will receive their results, opening their paths to sixth form or college.

Last year, top grades in England were down more than four percentage points on 2022 results with 22.4 per cent of grades for 16-year-olds at 7 or above, equivalent to an A.

Ofqual reported that GCSE entries have increased by more than 250,000 compared with summer 2023. 

Overall this year, 67.4 per cent of entries were awarded a grade 4/C or above. This is only slightly lower than last year, when 67.8 per cent of entries received a grade 4 or above.

In 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, 67 per cent received a grade 4 or above.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary at NAHT, said: "It is high time for change and significant improvements to the experience of students in key stage 4. That includes broadening the curriculum and the choices students have, reducing the number of exams they sit at the end of Year 11, scrapping the restrictive EBacc and abandoning the Maths and English re-sit policy.

"We warmly congratulate students as they receive their results across a wide range of qualifications. Today’s results are a testament to the hard work and dedication of students and the school and college staff who have supported them.

"Students receiving their results today should feel especially proud of what they have achieved - they navigated the start of secondary school during the pandemic, some have been taught in unfit school buildings, and support from the previous government left much to be desired.

Prime minister Keir Starmer also congratulated the students receiving their results today, saying they had done "an incredible job" on X. 

He added: "I know the power of education and opportunity. My government will make sure everyone’s path is determined by their talent, skills and ambition, not where you come from."