Today, Bristol teens who took their GCSE examinations for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic will learn their results (Thursday, August 25). It will undoubtedly be a day filled with excitement and nerves as students learn their grades before many of them move on to the sixth form, college, an apprenticeship, or the workforce.
The GCSE cohort will be hoping for similar happiness as last Thursday (August 18), when the city’s schools and colleges celebrated the A-level results. When they are revealed at 8.30am, most students will be able to pick up their results in person, though some will learn their scores at home.
This year, after the GCSE results, which are anticipated to decline in comparison to record highs in 2021, the schools inspector has been cautioned not to “jump to judgments.” It is anticipated that grades will fall below those from last year but remain higher than those from 2019, following the pattern of the A-level results, which were released last week.
After exams were postponed for the second consecutive year due to Covid-19, and pupils were instead given results decided by their teachers, the percentage of GCSE submissions awarded top grades increased to an all-time high last year. In total, 28.9% of UK GCSE submissions received one of the top marks, an increase of 2.7 percentage points from 2020.
Only a fifth (20.8%) of entries received at least a seven or an A in 2019, the most recent exam year. In England, a 9-1 system, with nine being the highest grade, has taken the role of the traditional A*-G grading system that is still in use in Wales and Northern Ireland.
