GCSE grades explained: How the numerical system works and letter equivalents

Thousands of Year 11 pupils will discover their GCSE grades today.

Two years of lessons, assignments and exams - which were curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic - have gone into helping them earn a grade which will help determine what they’ll do next.

For decades school subjects were graded on a letter-based system, with A* being the highest achievement possible, and G the lowest pass possible.

Since 2017 a numerical system has been used, and it means there’s more differentiation at the top end.

The old A* and A grades are out, whereas 9, 8, 7 are in.

GCSE grading is now a numerical system (PA)

The higher the number, the better the grade, but only the best-performing pupils will attain a 9 as far fewer of them are awarded compared to A*s.

While there’s no direct collaboration between the new numerical grades and their letter predecessors, these are the rough equivalents:

• Grade 9 is equivalent to a high A*
• Grade 8 is equivalent to a low A*, high A
• Grade 7 is equivalent to an A
• Grade 6 is equivalent to a high B
• Grade 5 is equivalent to a low B, high C
• Grade 4 is equivalent to a C
• Grace 3 is equivalent to a D
• Grade 2 is equivalent to a low E, high F
• Grade 1 is equivalent to an F or G

The only thing that remains the same is U, which still means fail and stands for ungraded.

A grade 4 is classed as a ‘standard pass’, while a ‘good pass’ is 5.

Schools are now judged on how many of their pupils achieve a 5 or above, but anyone who comes out with a 3 or below in English or Maths would be expected to resit.

When are GCSE grades released?

This year's GCSE results will be released today (Thursday August 20).

End-of-year exams, which normally play a big part in determining pupils' final grades, have been scrapped this year.

Instead pupils' grades will be determined an algorithm combining their teachers' predictions - based on classwork, assignments, mock exams, homework and coursework- as well as their schools' results from previous years.

However the algorithm has caused fury amongst A-level students, with 40% of predicted grades being marked down by the algorithm.