The record decline in top grades was not as sharp as seen in last week’s A-level results, which saw greater grade inflation during the pandemic than at GCSE level. The number of GCSE results registering a fail grade also returned pre-pandemic levels.
The proportion of entries receiving a grade 3 or below – prompting a retake in English or maths – increased to 30% this year, similar to the 30.1% seen in 2019, which is five percentage points up on last year’s figure of 24.7%.
This year’s results also highlighted widening regional differences, with pupils in London once again outperforming those in the north of England. In the north-east, just 17.6% of entries were awarded a grade 7 or above, up from 16.4% in 2019. In London 28.4% of entries were awarded top grades, up from 25.7% prior to the pandemic.
Headteachers expressed concern about the impact on pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, who were disproportionately affected during the pandemic and the subsequent cost of living crisis.
Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “It is likely that the outcomes for many of these young people will be affected by these factors and this may also impact on the results of schools which serve disadvantaged communities.”
He added: “The government has failed to grasp the gravity of this issue. It did not invest sufficiently in education recovery from the pandemic – causing its own recovery commissioner to resign in protest – and it has failed to address the high level of child poverty in the UK. We are concerned that this will lead to a widening of the attainment gap between rich and poor.”
In Wales, which adopted a different approach to grading this year, there were falls in the proportion of 16-year-olds getting A and A* grades, dropping from 26% of entries last year to 22% this year. Northern Ireland recorded a 2.5-point fall in top grades.
Jeremy Miles, Wales’s minister for education, said: “It’s inspiring to see what our learners have achieved. These learners have had to face immense challenges impacting on their learning opportunities over the past few years as they’ve progressed through their secondary schooling and onto their GCSEs.”
In England, much of the additional support put in place last year for the first cohort to sit exams after the forced interruption caused by Covid was stripped away this year, though in maths and some science papers, students were given formulae and equation sheets.
More than half a million students in England picked up their results for GCSEs, while more than 390,000 certificates across 130 vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) were awarded.
According to England’s exams regulator, Ofqual, there is still some grading protection in place and allowances have been made where the quality of student work is a little weaker than before the pandemic.
The overall improvement in England’s maths and English results was boosted by Ofqual’s decision not to apply feedback from its national reference tests, which it uses to calibrate annual grade changes. This year’s reference tests showed significantly lower results in English than previous years, while results were also slightly lower in maths
Ofqual defended its decision, saying: “While outcomes in English are statistically significantly lower than in 2017 at grade 4, the chief regulator decided not to implement a downward change because this would be counter to the wider policy intent of providing protection for students.”
Jo Saxton, Ofqual’s chief regulator, said: “Today’s results mark the second year in a two-step process back to normal. We’re back to normal.”
In England GCSEs are graded using a numerical system from 9 to 1, rather than from A* to G, with 9 being the highest grade. A 4 is roughly equivalent to a C grade and a 7 is an A. In Northern Ireland and Wales traditional A*-G grades are used.
In Scotland, results for national 5 qualifications published earlier this month showed the pass rate was 78.8%, down from 80.8% last year but still up from 78.2% in 2019.
