After much controversy, the GCSE results for UK students have been released.
According to Mirror, the percentage of pupils getting the top grades in their GCSEs has increased for the third year in a row.
More than one in four (25.9%) GCSE entries in England scored one of the three top grades this year, up from just over a fifth (20.7%) last summer, figures from exams regulator Ofqual show.
The overall pass rate has increased from 70% in 2019 to 79% this year.
The results have been assessed through teacher-predicted grades and not from an algorithm that was the cause of such chaos last week.
The number of GCSE students getting grade 7 or above in maths has jumped from 15.9% to 19% since last year, with English results following a similar trend and jumping from 13.9% to 18.7% achieving grade 7.
Exam results have dominated the headlines since the A-level results were released last Thursday.
This year, all A-level and GCSE exams were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Have your results been what you expected? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk and write ‘GCSE results’ in subject line
And the decision to use an algorithm to judge grades was slammed by students and teachers with thousands missing out on their place in university after being given lower-than-expected grades.
About 40% of last week’s A-level results were downgraded by Ofqual.
After days of backlash the Government performed a U-turn and is instead giving students the predicted grades of their teachers.
This morning, GCSE pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland got their results – which will be their predicted grades.
However around 200,000 Btec pupils will not get their final results following a last-minute review of grades.
More than three in four (76%) GCSE entries were awarded at least a 4 or a C grade in England this summer, which is up 8.9 percentage points on last year when 67.1% achieved the grades, data from Ofqual shows.
Since 2017, GCSE grades have been graded differently. Instead of letters from A* to U, grades are now numbered from 9 to 1.
The highest grade is 9, while 1 is the lowest, not including a U (ungraded).
Three number grades – 9, 8 and 7 – correspond to the old-style top grades of A* and A – this is designed to give more differentiation at the top end.
Exams watchdog Ofqual says fewer grade 9s are awarded than A*s, and that anyone who gets a 9 has “performed exceptionally”.
