New GCSEs

Why are GCSEs in England changing?

We are committed to achieving the highest standards in our schools. That’s why we have revised our GCSE qualifications in England to make them more demanding. We have done this so that our young people have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in 21st century Britain, and to match those of their peers in high-performing education systems elsewhere in the world.

The new qualifications are the result of a long and careful process of reform and involved extensive consultation with schools, universities and employers.

The new, more challenging GCSEs will help young people‎ develop the skills that employers tell us they need.

When are they changing?

From August 2017, the new qualifications began being awarded with number grades, rather than letters. The new grading scale runs from 9 to 1 instead of A* to G, with 9 the highest grade.

Not all GCSEs are changing at once – English language, English literature and maths were the first to change, with students sitting these exams in the summer of 2017. You can find the list of subjects in which students will be sitting reformed GCSEs in 2018 in our factsheets.

By 2020, all GCSEs in England will be graded using numbers instead of letters. However, most GCSEs taken by students in Wales and Northern Ireland will continue to be graded A* to G. In conjunction with the other regulators, Ofqual, the qualifications regulator in England, has produced guidance which helps explain the differences and similarities between GCSE qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Why is the grading scale changing?

The new scale will recognise more clearly the achievements of high-attaining students, as the additional grades allow for greater differentiation.

Changing from letters to numbers will also allow anyone – for example an employer – to see easily whether a student has taken a new, more challenging GCSE, or an old reformed GCSE.

What will be the impact on grades?

The old and new GCSE grading scales do not directly compare but, as the diagram below shows, there are three points where they align:

• The bottom of grade 7 is aligned with the bottom of grade A;
• The bottom of grade 4 is aligned with the bottom of grade C; and
• The bottom of grade 1 is aligned with the bottom of grade G.

Although the exams will cover more challenging content, students will not be disadvantaged by being the first to sit the new GCSEs. The approach used by Ofqual ensures that, all things being equal, broadly the same proportion of students will get grades 1, 4 and 7 and above in any subject, as would have got G, C or A and above in the old grading system.

There will be fewer grade 9s awarded than the current A*, to identify exceptional performance.

What is considered a “standard” or “strong” pass?

The Department for Education recognises grade 4 – broadly the equivalent of the bottom two thirds of a grade C – as a “standard pass”, in all subjects. A grade 4 or above marks a similar achievement to the old grade C or above. It is a credible achievement for a young person that should be valued as a passport to future study and employment.

Students who do not attain a grade 4 or above in English and maths must continue to study these subjects as part of their post-16 education. This requirement does not apply to other subjects. More information is available in this guidance.

Employers, universities and colleges will continue to set their own GCSE entry criteria.

A grade 5 or above in English or maths is recognised as a ‘strong pass’ for the purposes of school accountability only. The proportion of students achieving a strong pass in English and maths is one of the Government’s headline school performance measures, reflecting the Government’s commitment to raising standards in our schools.

Find out more about how the reforms will affect you…