The number of students securing “good” pass rates at GCSE has risen this year despite major exam reforms.
As half a million pupils receive their results, today’s figures show that across England, Wales and Northern Ireland the number of pupils attaining the top grades has also increased.
The proportion of entries scoring a C or above – or a 4 under the new grading system – has risen by 0.5 percentage points from 66.4 per cent last year to 66.9 per cent.
The figures, published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), show the percentage of pupils achieving at least one A grade – or a 7 under the new system – has risen by 0.5 percentage points to 20.5 per cent.
The rises come despite major changes to GCSEs to make them tougher – with more demanding content, less coursework and a focus on exams at the end of two years.
Traditional A* to G grades are also being replaced with 9 to 1 grades under the new GCSE grading system in England. A grade 9 – the new top grade – will be harder to get than an A.
Last year, the first reformed GCSEs in English and maths were graded using numbers – and an additional 20 subjects, including sciences and languages, are being awarded under the new scale.
The “good pass” rates fell last summer – in the first year that new GCSEs were awarded – but the results have now reached the same levels as 2016.
In English literature, the percentage of pupils achieving at least a C grade – or a 4 – has increased by 0.9 percentage points to 73.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, the percentage of students in the UK achieving the top grades at GCSE in English language and mathematics has also risen.
Boys are closing the gap at the top GCSEs grades, today’s figures show, with 17.2 per cent of male students getting at least an A grade (7) compared to 16.4 per cent last year.
The official figures from the exam boards also show that the number of entries to modern foreign language GCSEs has risen slightly – by 0.4 per cent – despite concerns about a decline in uptake.
Michael Turner, director general of JCQ, said the statistics show “considerable stability at a time of significant reform to the structure and content of the GCSEs."
He said: “When looking at the detail in this year’s results and entry patterns, it is a complicated picture with some significant changes in the age profile of the cohort in some subjects which in part reflect education policies and how schools and colleges implement them.”
