Closing summary
That’s all from us on the GCSE results live blog today, thanks for following along.
Here are the main developments from today:
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The proportion of GCSE students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland achieving at least a grade 4 (equivalent to a C) has fallen slightly this year, to 67.3% from 67.4% in 2025. This is the same as the proportion recorded in 2019, before the pandemic.
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The overall results for 16-year-olds in England nudged slightly higher compared with last year, with the proportion receiving grades 7, 8 and 9 – equivalent to grades A and A* – rising by 0.1 of a percentage point to 23.1%.
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The proportion of nearly 700,000 16-year-olds in England who got a grade 4 (equivalent to a C) or better also rose to 70.7%, compared with 70.5% in 2025.
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Girls continue to outperform boys at GCSE, but the gap is narrowing. Almost a fifth (19.6%) of boys’ GCSE entries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were awarded a grade 7 or higher (equivalent to an A) compared with nearly a quarter (24.4%) of girls’ entries, a 4.8 percentage point gap, down from 5.1 last year. Overall, 70.2% of girls achieved a pass rate (grade 4 and higher) compared with 64.4% of boys, a 5.8 percentage point gap, a decrease from 6.2 last year.
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In England, London remains on top for pupils achieving a grade 7 or above, at 28.6%. This is a slight increase from last year, when 28.4% of GCSE students in the capital achieved the top grades. North-east England had the lowest figure, with 17.7% of GCSE entries awarded at least a 7, down from 17.8% in 2025.
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In a message to students, prime minister Andy Burnham said the government is creating “more opportunities” for young people to “choose the path that’s right for them”. He added: “Whatever your results, remember there isn’t just one route to success.”
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Education secretary Lucy Powell said the government is looking at changing the resits policy in England, noting that only one in five students who resit English and maths were passing them. “For some, they’re doing it many times over,” she added. “So we’re branding them a failure after failure after failure. It’s knocking their confidence.
You can read our full report here:
Updated
Among those celebrating their GCSE results today were quadruplets Ellen, Eric, Layla, and Rose Lamb, who all attended Aureus School in Didcot, Oxfordshire.
Ellen achieved one grade 9, five grade 8s, three grade 7s, and one grade 6. She is heading to Oxford City College to study A-levels in biology, chemistry and maths and hopes to become a paediatrician.
“I’ve really enjoyed the sense of community at Aureus,” she said. “The teachers have always been incredibly supportive, and encouraged me to challenge myself both academically and personally.
“Some of my favourite memories include our Year 11 prom, taking part in the school production, and celebrating after completing our GCSE exams.”
Eric is going on to study dance, while Layla will be studying English, history and psychology at sixth form and Rose will study history, sociology, and English A-levels.
Gender and golf course studies are examples of “Mickey Mouse” degrees, Suella Braverman has said.
Asked to name a specific degree which falls under Reform UK’s definition of a “Mickey Mouse” course that should be avoided, the party’s education spokesperson said:
In terms of Mickey Mouse courses, listen, this has been well-chronicled for many years. Whether it’s gender studies, whether it’s golf course studies, I think I’ve seen there’s not a necessity. There’s not a value in many of these degrees.
Now I know that might be uncomfortable to those people who have those qualifications, but the reality is you’ve got to ask yourself: what are your graduate outcomes looking like?
Have you really spent three years of your life in the best possible way, and was it worth £50,000 worth of debt.
Young people are coming out of university unable to get on to the housing ladder, unable and unwilling to get married, unable to start a family. Why? Because they’re starting off with their hands behind their backs because they’ve been sold a line that university is the pathway to success.
Reform: don't waste time 'studying for a pointless degree at a mediocre university'
Suella Braverman has urged young people getting their GCSE results not to “waste your time studying for a pointless degree at a mediocre university”.
The Reform UK education spokesperson made the comment as she set out the party’s plans to create 600,000 more apprenticeship starts a year by the end of the first term of a Reform government.
As she set out the policy, Braverman addressed students receiving their exam results, telling them:
My advice to those young people today getting their results, my advice to those grandparents and those parents looking at the young people in their families who may be getting their results today: Be careful, don’t get ripped off by the great university scam.
Don’t waste your time studying for a pointless degree at a mediocre university. If you want to work hard, if you want to move forward, earn a wage, and have opportunities in your life, take up and look for apprentices.
And a Reform UK government will ensure that those opportunities exist. Your success is our country’s success. We’re on your side, and when I said I wanted a skills revolution, I meant it.”
For more UK politics news, follow our live blog here:
Chris Zarraga, director of Schools North East which represents 1,150 schools in the regions, said there was some “genuinely encouraging news” in today’s results.
At grade 4 and above, the gap between the north-east and London has narrowed and is back to around where it was before the pandemic.
But the picture at the highest grades remains concerning. The gap at grades 7 to 9 has increased again this year and remains wider than it was in 2019.
The movement each year might look relatively small, but the important point is its persistence. Year after year, this divide remains; and is then reflected in student destinations, employment rates, and HE progression rates.
We have to understand what these figures are telling us. There is not a north-south divide in the quality of schools, nor in the talent, potential or aspirations of young people.
There is a structural divide in the circumstances and opportunities surrounding them.
Schools in the north-east are working incredibly hard to overcome those circumstances.
But schools cannot independently fix poverty, stretched public services, shortages in special educational needs and disabilities (Send) support, transport barriers, unequal access to enrichment or very different local economic opportunities.
These inequalities are neither inevitable nor acceptable. The government needs to treat them as a system challenge and address the conditions around schools as well as what happens inside them.”
PA has reported a heartwarming story about a Sudanese refugee who passed his GCSEs in English and maths.
Nasser Hamid, 20, of Ipswich, achieved grade 4 in both subjects, collecting his maths results today after having passed English earlier this year.
He studies at Suffolk New College, where he is also taking an IT course.
On finding out he now has his English and maths qualifications, he said: “I feel proud – it is one of the proudest moments in my life – this is the result I was waiting for to step forward.
“Thanks to Suffolk New College, without their help I wouldn’t be standing here.”
Nasser is an aspiring football referee, after an injury ended his dream of being a professional player. He recently oversaw a charity football match at Ipswich Town’s ground, Portman Road, and said he would love to referee at a future World Cup.
He also officiates at Saturday and Sunday league games.
He urged others in a similar position to “just believe in yourself”.
“With discipline and hard work, you can achieve your goals,” he said.
Nasser said he was “pushing forward to be an engineer”.
“I’m on track,” he said.
“Next, I’m going to do an access course and then (hopefully) go to university to study engineering.”
David Squire, head of maths at Suffolk New College, said: “I’ve never been prouder of a learner in my life.”
On subject choice, statistics and business studies may have grown in popularity this year – up 11% and 8% respectively – but computing has dipped 7%. Myles McGinley, managing director of Cambridge OCR, explained: “The emergence of AI could be leading to students thinking they don’t need to know how to code.
“But I would say maybe that’s something that would be up for debate. I think potentially computer science is more important than ever in the age of AI.
“And while vibe coding might be all the rage, I think AI won’t be able to replace a solid understanding of how software works, how technology can solve real-world problems and how it can create a good user experience.”
One of the key areas of concern following today’s GCSE results will be the high failure rates for those students in England forced to resit English and maths GCSE after previously failing to secure a pass at the age of 16.
It is a longstanding problem and the government has already proposed the introduction of a “stepping stone” qualification to help better prepare students who are struggling but frustrated school leaders said more fundamental change is needed.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said: “We have long called for an end to the current policy which forces students into dispiriting rounds of repeated, demotivating resits.
“The curriculum review focus was on ensuring students are better prepared for resits and introducing a stepping stone qualification.
“Today’s data shows why more fundamental changes to this policy are needed, with only 18.8% of students aged 17 and over achieving a grade 4 in English, and 13.6% of students achieving a grade 4 in maths – both down on last year, when these figures were 19.7% and 15.3% respectively.
“What is needed are more appropriate and engaging alternatives to GCSEs in English and maths at key stage 4 which enable students to study for qualifications that better suit their needs and aspirations.”
Girls continue to outperform boys at GCSE, but the gap is closing and is now 2.9 percentage points (pp) lower than it was in 2019. Richard Harry, executive director of qualifications and assessment at the Welsh exam board WJEC, urged caution however.
“The gap is only very slightly narrower this year – it’s a very small change,” he said. “I think it would be difficult to speculate too much around the differences for such small changes.”
Concern will also focus on persistent regional differences, with London once again the highest performing area with 28.6% of grades 7 and above, up 0.2pp from last year. In the north-east, the lowest performing region, 17.7% of grades awarded were 7 and above, down 0.1pp from last year.
Carl Cullinane, director of research and policy at the Sutton Trust education charity, said there had been “no progress” in addressing regional imbalances in GCSE performance, with the gap between London and the rest of the country continuing to grow.
“Forthcoming curriculum and assessment reforms, and future government spending decisions, must have a laser focus on closing gaps in attainment and progression across the country.”
The Sutton Trust also pointed out that the gap between state comprehensives and private school pupils getting the top grades may have narrowed slightly by 0.9pp, but it remains vast at 27pp.
London widens lead over other regions for top grades
Looking at the results in England on a regional level, London remains on top for pupils achieving a grade 7 or above, at 28.6%.
This is a slight increase from last year, when 28.4% of GCSE students in the capital achieved the top grades.
North-east England had the lowest figure, with 17.7% of GCSE entries awarded at least a 7, down from 17.8% in 2025.
This means the regional gap has widened between the highest and lowest proportions of pupils achieving a grade 7 or above, from 10.6 percentage points last year to 10.9 points this year. It is the largest gap since the start of available data in 2010, according to analysis by PA.
Here’s what the data says about the other regions:
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North-west England: 18.9% of entries received a grade 7 or above, up slightly from 18.8% in 2025.
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London – north-west gap: The gap widened to 9.7 percentage points, from 9.6 in 2025, close to the recent record of 9.9 points in 2024.
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East Midlands: 18.2% of entries received a grade 7 or above, 10.4 percentage points behind London, up from 10.3 in 2025.
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West Midlands: 18.3% of entries received a grade 7 or above, 10.3 percentage points behind London, up from 9.9 in 2025.
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Wider regional divide: The gap between London and both the East and West Midlands has widened to its largest level since at least 2010.
Here some pictures on the newswires of students picking up their GCSE results today:
Gender gap narrows but girls still reign supreme
The gap in GCSE results between boys and girls in England, Wales and Northern Ireland has shrunk again this year.
Almost a fifth (19.6%) of boys’ GCSE entries were awarded a grade 7 or higher (equivalent to an A) compared with nearly a quarter (24.4%) of girls’ entries, a 4.8 percentage point gap, down from 5.1 last year.
Overall, 70.2% of girls achieved a pass rate (grade 4 and higher) compared with 64.4% of boys, a 5.8 percentage point gap, a decrease from 6.2 last year.
These are the narrowest leads enjoyed by girls since at least 2000, which is the earliest archive data available, PA reported.
Updated
GCSE pass rate dips to pre-pandemic level
The proportion of GCSE students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland achieving at least a grade 4 (equivalent to a C) has fallen slightly this year, to 67.3% from 67.4% in 2025. This is the same as the proportion recorded in 2019, before the pandemic.
While it is a minor decrease, it still means nearly a third of teenagers are not achieving basic English and maths skills when finishing school. In England, students who fail to reach a grade 4 or equivalent in English or maths GCSEs have to retake them.
More students aged 17 and above took English and maths this year, likely due to the resits policy in England. But results show the pass rate has worsened for this cohort, falling by 1.4 percentage points for English and 1.7 for maths compared with last year.
'Concerning' fall in language GCSE entries, says British Academy
The British Academy, the national organisation for humanities and social sciences, said its analysis of GCSE results today shows business and psychology are up but languages face another year of decline.
Among its key findings were:
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French seeing its sharpest fall since 2018, with a 5.4% decrease in take-up this year.
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Other modern languages, which includes Arabic, Chinese and Urdu among others, are also down by 4%.
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Spanish growth may be slowing down, with a 0.3% increase compared to 2.6% last year and 6.2% the year before.
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German is up 0.2%, a very small increase compared to its long-term decline of 12.5% over the past 5 years.
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The highest growing subjects in Shape (the acronym for social sciences, humanities and arts) was business studies, with a 7.9% increase.
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Sociology and psychology continue to rise, by 4.8% and 3% respectively.
Susan Smith, president of the British Academy, said: “This year’s GCSE entries show that young people continue to be inspired by subjects providing insight into people, economy and society.
The growth of business studies, sociology and psychology, in particular, show increasing appetite for skills nurtured by the social sciences, arts and humanities."
However, the continued fall in language entries is concerning. Languages are vital for diplomacy, trade and cultural understanding. AI translation is no match for the human communications skills and capabilities we need to navigate an increasingly interconnected, but divided and volatile world. Yet, losing languages at this level has a domino effect across the entire education system, and once this expertise disappears, it will be very hard to recover.
As government reflects on future education pathways, we urge ministers to seize every opportunity to give all young people access to a broad, balanced curriculum, delivering the critical thinking and creativity that employers value and the UK needs.”
Here are some statements from the prime minister and the education secretary on the GSCE results today.
Andy Burnham said:
Congratulations to everyone collecting their results today, you should be proud of the hard work that got you here.
Whether the next step is sixth form, a college course, an apprenticeship, a T Level, work, or something else entirely, we’re ensuring that there are more opportunities than ever to choose your own path to get on in life. I’m determined to bring back hope and give every young person the chance to fulfil their potential.
Lucy Powell said:
Massive congratulations to everyone collecting their results today – be proud of what it took to get here, and thank you to the teachers and families who backed you every step of the way.
More of you are hitting top grades in maths, and technical pass rates are climbing in every region. That’s proof there is no wrong door, only different routes that suit everyone’s individual ambition.
But there’s more to do to put academic and technical qualifications on an equal footing, so we’re introducing V Levels and expanding T Levels and apprenticeships, so wherever you’re headed next, there’s a path that works for you.”
Business studies becoming more popular for 'increasingly entrepreneurial' generation, says Cambridge OCR
Myles McGinley, managing director of the Cambridge OCR exam board, said more pupils are taking GCSE business studies than in previous years, describing this generation of young people as “increasingly entrepreneurial”.
He said business studies entries are a third higher than five years ago, adding: “The founders of some of the next great unicorn businesses may well be among those achieving GCSEs in business studies today.”
PE has also risen in popularity, McGinley said. “Are young people inspired by the successes of our athletes in recent years, from British Olympians to the Lionesses?”
Almost one in four boys in England get top grades in maths
Almost one in four boys in England received top grades in maths while results in English improved across the board, helping to propel improved GCSE results for this year’s cohort of 16-year-olds.
The stronger performances in maths helped pupils taking GCSEs in year 11 reach a record level for higher grades in England outside the Covid pandemic years, when exams were replaced by teacher assessments.
The overall results for 16-year-olds nudged slightly higher compared with last year, with the proportion receiving grades 7, 8 and 9 – equivalent to grades A and A* – rising by 0.1 of a percentage point to 23.1%. The proportion of nearly 700,000 16-year-olds in England who got a grade 4 or better – equivalent to a C or higher – also rose to 70.7%, compared with 70.5% in 2025.
Some of the strongest performances appeared to come in the compulsory subject of maths, where 22.3% received 7s or better, including 24% of boys and 20.5% of girls. But girls did worse than last year in lower grades, dropping from 71% awarded 4 and above to 70.7%, while boys improved further to 72.8%.
Read more:
In case you need a reminder of the GCSE grading system in England, here’s what the numbers mean for those familiar with the old A-G letter system (which Wales and Northern Ireland still use):
Earlier this month, students in Scotland achieved record number of vocational and technical qualifications in their Nationals, Highers, Advanced Highers and Skills for Work Awards.
Pass rates for Scottish exams have increased as students across the country received their results. Figures show that the poverty-related attainment gap has narrowed compared with last year.
The National 5 (equivalent to GCSEs) pass rate rose by 0.8 percentage points in 2026, reaching a total of 79.2%. In 2025, the pass rate was 78.4%.
The pass rate for Highers was up 0.8% to 76.7% while Advanced Highers rose by 0.9% to 77.6%.
Admissions service Ucas said a record number of Scottish students aged 18 and under had been accepted into university or college. In total, 32,370 Scottish students of all ages secured places, up from 31,850 in 2025.
'There isn’t just one route to success,' Burnham says in message to GCSE students
The prime minister has issued a message of support to students receiving their GCSE results today.
In a post on X, Andy Burnham said:
Congratulations to everyone getting their GCSE results today, you should be proud of the work that got you here.
Whatever your results, remember there isn’t just one route to success.
We’re creating more opportunities for young people to choose the path that’s right for them, whether that’s academic or technical.
Every young person should have the chance to fulfil their potential. I’ll make sure they do.”
Updated
Powell: Resits in England are knocking students' confidence
Lucy Powell said the government is looking at changing the resits policy in England, where students who have not achieved a grade 4 pass in English or maths GCSE are required to retake those exams.
As the Guardian’s education editor Richard Adams reported yesterday, research shows compulsory resits in England were having a negative impact on teenagers’ mental wellbeing. You can read Richard’s report here.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Powell said only one in five students who resit English and maths were passing them.
“For some, they’re doing it many times over,” she added. “So we’re branding them a failure after failure after failure. It’s knocking their confidence.
“It’s not giving them the passport that they need to go on to do something like an apprenticeship, or for others to go on to further study.”
She said the government is introducing a new “pathway qualification” at level one, which is below GCSEs at level two.
Powell said this would give “a high level of literacy and numeracy”, adding: “I want to work with employers so that it’s credible, so that that would be a sufficient gateway to get on to the next path.”
Lucy Powell's daughter among students receiving GCSE results on 'big day'
Education secretary Lucy Powell is on the media round this morning as students prepare to pick up their GCSE results, including her own daughter.
She said it was a “big day” that marks “a really important moment in a child’s progression”.
Speaking to Sky News, she added: “I know that the vast majority of young people have worked incredibly hard for these quite tough exams that they have faced over the summer, and what they will be getting today, hopefully, is a gateway to continue their study, to continue learning, to continue training and move on to the next stage in their life.”
She said plans to bring in new post-16 vocational qualifications would mean there is a “path for everybody”.
“I’m sure people today will feel proud of themselves, but they should be reassured that there is a pathway and there are options for them, and they need to make contact with their school or college and really talk about those options.”
Powell is due to visit a school later today, we will bring you the updates as soon as we get them.
The app allowing students to access their GCSE results digitally is being rolled out nationally this year, after a successful trial last year.
In 2025, nearly 100,000 year 11 pupils in the Greater Manchester and the West Midlands combined authority areas received their GCSE results via an app called Education Record, which automatically collates their key information and exam results.
Across the country, students can access their results on the app from 11am. However, they can still collect their traditional physical results at school starting around 8am.
You can find out more information about the app here.
Compulsory GCSE resits in England harm teenagers’ mental wellbeing, study finds
Forcing teenagers who fail GCSEs into multiple resits has a negative impact on their mental health, according to research to be published as pupils receive their grades on Thursday.
The study by academics at University College London (UCL) compared the mental wellbeing of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who failed to reach a grade 4 or equivalent in maths or English GCSEs – and found that only those in England, where resits are mandatory, showed significantly lower wellbeing.
Robbie Maris, a research fellow at UCL and one of the authors, said the dent to teenagers’ self-confidence when faced with resits could be a contributing factor to the rise in young people not in education, employment or training, known as Neets.
Maris said: “Some [resitting] students will not turn up for their exams, they won’t enter them or they will drop out of education – these are the kids at highest risk of dropping out of education and becoming Neets.
“It could be leading to further disengagement, which is a worrying thing. People need to pay more attention to this, because if you demotivate or demoralise young people it puts them at risk of dropping out of the education system entirely.”
Read more:
Hundreds of thousands of pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland await grades
Good morning and welcome to our GCSE results day live blog.
Today, like every year, hundreds of thousands of pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland anxiously await their grades.
In 2025, there was an overall rise in grades among 16-year-olds taking GCSEs and the gap between boys and girls has narrowed to its smallest level since 2016.
Boys showed improved performances in some of the major subjects like maths and English, while girls slipped backwards in their traditionally strong subjects such as English.
The results mean that the gender gap in favour of girls is now the smallest since separate data for 16-year-olds in England was first published in 2016.
Pupils in England who were thought to have been among the worst affected by Covid bounced back in their GCSE results last year, with more achieving top grades despite the disruption of the pandemic.
The percentage of pupils who achieved a grade 7 and above was 23% in 2025, up from 22.6% in 2024. While those who achieved a grade 4 and above (pass) was 70.4%, a slight increase from the previous year.
For pupils in Northern Ireland, the proportion getting A and A* – equivalent to grades 7 and above in England – rose by a full percentage point to 31.4%, while the proportion getting grades C or above went up to 63.8%.
In Wales, where letter grades are also still used, pupils getting the top grades rose to 20.1%, up from 19.8% in 2024, and those getting a C or better edged up by 0.3 percentage points to 63.8%.
If the GCSE results follow last week’s A-level results, it might be a bumper year for grades. The proportion of students in England gaining the highest grade of A* in A-level subjects rose to 9.7%, up from 9.4% last year, setting a new record outside the pandemic era, when exams were scrapped.
Northern Ireland was the best-performing country, with 30.7% of grades being As and A*s, followed by 29.6% in Wales and 28.7% in England.
The GCSE cohort taking exams in 2026 were in Year 5 when the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns began in 2020. They faced severe disruption during key developmental years (perhaps less so than the 2025 cohort, who were in their final year at primary school in 2020), particularly the primary-to-secondary transition period, chronic absenteeism, and mental health challenges.
Follow along as we look at whether the overall 9-4 pass rates are affected in key subjects like English and maths, as well as if girls’ overall results drop again.
Updated
