Students sit their exams before the end of term but it’s not until August that they are able to find out how they performed.
Here’s what you need to know as another results day approaches.
What time do GCSE results come out on Thursday?
Students can usually collect their results in person from 8am on results day, according to the BBC, which lands on Thursday, August 22 this year.
Grading for GCSE, AS and A levels has continued as normal this summer.
This means each student’s grade is determined by their performance on their own assessments.
Find out more: ⬇️ https://t.co/dUzrgz5No9
#ResultsDay2024 @educationgovuk @JCQcic pic.twitter.com/qhIOt9KvzV— Ofqual (@ofqual) August 13, 2024
Some students receive their results via email though so it’s worth asking your school or college what the arrangements are for you.
The GCSE exams will be graded with numbers from 9-1 in England and if you think you haven’t received the correct grade for your work, you can speak to your school or college.
A “standard pass” is considered a 4 while a 5 is a “strong pass”.
Students in Wales and Northern Ireland will receive their grades as letters rather than numbers.
However, they will receive numbers if an exam was organised by an English exam board.
How to appeal your exam results
What can you expect from GCSE results this year?
Last year, GCSEs and A-levels returned to pre-pandemic grading arrangements in England.
In Wales and Northern Ireland, exam regulators are aiming to return to pre-pandemic grading this summer, a year later than in England.
In England, exams regulator Ofqual has said it expects this summer’s national results to be “broadly similar” to last summer when grades were brought back in line with pre-Covid levels.
The aim to return to pre-pandemic grading comes after Covid-19 led to an increase in top GCSE and A-level grades in 2020 and 2021 with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams.
Key dates for 2024 exam results
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In England, GCSE students who took mathematics, physics and combined science were given formulae and equation sheets during exams this summer to limit the impact of Covid-19 on learning.
The exam aids were also given to pupils last year but they are not expected to be in place next summer.
Most pupils who took their GCSE exams this summer were in Year 7 when schools closed after the national lockdown in 2020.
