Understanding the new GCSEs

The New GCSE Grading Structure

This new structure means that :

A high Grade ‘C’ and a low Grade ‘B’  will effectively be the same thing.

Students need a Grade 4 or above to have a ‘pass’ grade.

There will be less Grade 9s awarded than A* Grades, as both Grades 8 and 9 are the equivalent of an A*.

Only the core subjects (English Language, English Literature, Maths and Science) will be graded from 1 – 9 initially, with most of the other subjects changing in 2019 and then 2020.

Over the 2018 and 2019 exam seasons, students will leave school with a mixture of number and letter grades.

Regulators have guaranteed that the same percentage of students will get Grades 1, 4 and 7 as would have received Grades G, C and A previously.

Wales and Northern Ireland are not changing their grading systems to fall in line with England, which means that certain Exam Boards will now be exclusively English and Welsh.

The confusion of whether a 4 or 5 will be classed as a good pass seems to be the main cause for concern, as schools will be judged on what percentage of students receive a Grade 5 or higher in English and Maths and in the EBacc (English Baccalaureate) but the Government says that Sixth Forms can accept a Grade 4 as a pass to allow them to continue to the next stage of their education.