Thousands of Yorkshire students get their GCSE results

Results day has arrived for thousands of GCSE students. Picture: Andrew Roe

A leading exams expert has said that grades are expected to stay broadly the same as last year.

However the increase in people repeating English and maths could see the proportion of top grades dropping, according to the Professor Alan Smithers.

Today’s results include the largest-ever volume of students resitting English and maths - a 26 per cent increase on last year.

Although grades may stay broadly similar to last year overall, there are major changes to the way students’ work is being measured both this year and in future.

Previously a school’s headline figure would have been the proportion of pupils who achieve at least five A* to C GCSE grades, including English and maths, as this was the measure used in Government league tables.

However from this year schools will be measured on the progress pupils make across eight subjects. Official ‘Progress 8’ figures for schools will not be out until the Autumn.

But Hull was the first council in the region to produce an Progress 8 Score today.

The council said the city’s pupils had an average Progress 8 score of “about +0.2”. This shows that pupils have progressed better than expected, the authority said. The changes in the way GCSE performance was measured came about as there were concerns that the five A* to C system focused a school’s attention on pupils who were on the C/D borderline at the expense of more and less able students.

Now a school is judged on the progress all pupils make across a wider number of subjects.

Another shake up coming in in the future is a change to the grades which pupils receive.

This is the last year in which GCSE results, introduced nearly 30 years ago, will be scored entirely with grades A* to G. From next summer, pupils will take reformed courses in English language, English literature and maths.

These subjects will be marked numerically - from a nine for the top-performing students down to one for those who have struggled.

The changes will be rolled out across a further 17 subjects in the of summer 2018.

Prof Smithers director of Buckingham University’s Centre for Education and Employment Research, has carried out an annual analysis of predicted grades this year.

He said: “The results this year will be very close to what they were last year, but the increase in people repeating maths and English could lower the top grades slightly because these candidates are more likely to be aiming for a .

“Girls are a long way ahead of boys, doing better in 47 of the 49 subjects and being over 15 percentage points ahead in English.”

There were early reports of success from schools in the region today. At the academically selective Ripon Grammar over 86 per cent of the grades were A*-B.

At UTC Sheffield City Centre campus - Yorkshire’s first university technical college - 75 per cent of the cohort achieved A* to C in maths 74 per cent achived it in science and 61 per cent in English. Pupils study GCSEs alongside technical qualifications.

Alex Reynolds, principal of UTC Sheffield, said: “I am extremely proud to see our second full cohort of students complete their studies at the UTC.”

“Our success in English, mathematics and science GCSEs, supported by students’ vocational experience and qualifications, ensures students are prepared for the next stage of their education and careers.”