GCSE Results Day: Rise in A*-C Grades

21 Aug 2014

With A-level results day over, it’s time for GCSE results! This year has seen stories of rises and falls in the statistics yet again. So how does it all look this year?

There’s been a reported rise in the number of A*-C grades. 68.8% bagged these top grades this year – that’s an increase of 0.7%.

There was some good news for maths, with 62.4% of entries awarded A*-C grades, which is an increase of 4.8%. Things for English results looked a little shakier, with a drop of 1.9% to 61.7% for grades above a C. Commentators have linked this decline to the removal of the ‘speaking and listening’ part of assessment.

Katje Hall, CBI Deputy Director-General, said of the results: “Recent reforms have helped increase rigour in our exam system, but more must be done to ensure a GCSE pass is an accurate measure of not just how well a young person does in the exam hall, but also the skills they can bring to the workplace. The removal of speaking and listening from the English GCSE is particularly concerning.”

She commented that young schools should not only be judged by their position in the league tables, but also on “how well-prepared young people are for life beyond the classroom”.

Congratulations to all of you who got their results today!

If you’re still considering what you might want to do next with your newly-earned GCSEs, you could find out more about possible Advanced Apprenticeship as an alternative alongside your college options. Dig in!

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