Here's what the 1 to 9 grades mean as students find out GCSE results (2024)

For many school pupils, GCSE Results Day is a culmination of all their hard work.

Lessons, revision and exams are done – and it’s time to find out if all that effort paid off in the form of their desired grade.

Back in the day, GCSEs were graded using a letters-based system: A* to G. Typically, A* was the peak result, C was an average score, with G being the lowest, below an F.

Things are different now, though, with a number-based grading system in place.

So, what do all the numbers mean? Here, we explain it all, including the different grade boundaries.

What do GCSE 1 to 9 grades mean?

In a nutshell: 9 is the highest grade you can get, and 1 is the lowest.

If you want to think about it in terms of the old, letters system, then they are comparable to:

GCSE grades 1-9 equivalent

  • Grade 9 is the equivalent of above an A*
  • Grade 8 is the equivalent of in between grades A* and A
  • Grade 7 is the equivalent of a grade A
  • Grade 6 is the equivalent of just above a grade B
  • Grade 5 is the equivalent of in between grades B and C
  • Grade 4 is the equivalent of a grade C
  • Grade 3 is the equivalent of in between grades D and E
  • Grade 2 is the equivalent of in between grades E and F
  • Grade 1 is the equivalent of in between grades F and G.

So, if you’re looking for that hard-earned A or A*, you’re looking for a 7, 8 or 9 on your results slip.

Fewer students will receive a grade 9 than would have received an A* under the old grading system, though.

This is because part of the reason for introducing a new grading system was to allow more differentiation among the brightest students.

Currently, this is just the grading system for England and Wales.

Northern Ireland uses the A* to G grading system, while Scotland uses grades A, B, C and D in its GCSE-equivalent qualification, the National 5. If you get lower than a D, you’d get ‘No Award’.

When was the new GSCE grading system introduced and why?

According to Ofqual, the 1 to 9 system for GCSE grading came into effect in 2017.

Initially, this was just for English Language, English Literature and Maths GCSEs,before being rolled out to a wider range of courses in 2018 such as Art and Design, Biology, Chemistry, Drama, French, Geography, German, History, Spanish, Physical Education and Physics.

In 2019, even more GCSEs took on the new system, with it fully rolled out by summer 2020.

The move came as part of a wider reform of exams, which saw a complete overhaul of the content and structure of GCSEs.

Education reforms in England began in 2011, led by then-Education Secretary Michael Gove. A review of the national curriculum was announced first, with the overhaul of GCSEs starting in 2013.

In 2014, Mr Gove said the new tougher GCSE courses ‘set higher expectations’.

Indeed, an Ofqual blog reads: ‘GCSEs in England have been reformed to keep pace with universities’ and employers’ demands.

‘They are based on new and more demanding subject content but are still suitable for the same wide range of abilities. The new grade scale makes it clear to everyone that students have studied the new GCSEs.

‘It also has more higher grades compared to the old A* to G grades, to give sixth forms, colleges, universities and employers the opportunity to better distinguish between students of different abilities.’

Newer courses feature much less coursework than old GCSE qualifications.

Modular courses, which saw pupils sit papers throughout their studies, have also been scrapped in favour of ‘linear’ GCSEs – in which pupils take all of their exams at the end of the two-year course.

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Here's what the 1 to 9 grades mean as students find out GCSE results (2024)
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