Hundreds of thousands of teenagers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland have received their GCSE results today (August 21).
But long gone are the days of grades A to U, and for the past few years, grades have been rated numerically.
Nine is the highest result, with the numbers going down to two.
But if you are confused by your children’s results, read below to find out what they actually mean:
How has the system changed?
Traditional A*-G GCSE grades were scrapped in 2020 and replaced with a 9-1 grading system, with 9 the highest result. A 4 is broadly equivalent to a C grade, and a 7 broadly equivalent to an A.
A 4 is considered a "standard pass" and 5 a "strong pass".
Students who get nine grade-4s have therefore, technically, passed all their exams.
When did the changes take effect?
The new system was phased in over a four-year period, with core subjects including maths and English being among the first topics to be affected, in 2017.
By 2020 the whole country was put on the system for all subjects.
Why was the system revised?
The move to change the grading system formed part of a wider reform of exams which was seen Asia complete overhaul of the content and structure of GCSEs.
Courses now feature much less coursework than the old GCSE qualifications with modular courses, which saw pupils sit papers throughout their studies, scrapped in favour of “linear” GCSEs in which pupils take all of their exams at the end of the two-year course.
