GCSE grades explained: All you need to know about the number grading system

Students across Norfolk will collect their GCSE results today.

It is the culmination of two years’ hard work and opens the doors to a post-16 education.

Here’s all you need to know about the current grading system…

GCSEs: a history

GCSEs were introduced in 1986 for a handful of subjects, replacing the old O-level system.

A year later, all pupils sat the new exams and undertook coursework.

At their introduction, results were graded A-G, with a U being ungraded.

A pass was considered to be grade C or higher, with A being the highest.

An A* grade was introduced in 1994.

All change

However, in 2017 the results system was changed to numbers, and it is not a straightforward swap: whereas there were eight possible grades under the old system, there are now nine.

Essentially, the grades are upended: whereas the lowest alphabetically was considered to be the best, now the higher the number, the better the result.

It also saw the end of modular courses with pupils being assessed through essay-based exams rather than controlled assessments.

What is the highest grade under the new GCSE system?

The 21st century equivalent of the A* grade is a 9.

Grades 7 or 8 will equal an A grade.

What is the lowest grade under the new GCSE system?

Anyone who gets a 1 has received the equivalent of a G grade under the old system.

What constitutes a grade C or above in the new GCSE system?

Pupils who receive a GCSE grade of 4 upwards will be deemed to have achieved the equivalent of grade C.

Grades between 4 and 6 are on a par with grades B and C.

What about the lowest GCSES grades?

A 3 is roughly the same as a D or E, a 2 an E or F, and 1 an F or G.

In both systems, a U means ungraded.

Why did the system change?

In 2013, Michael Gove was secretary of state for education. He announced an overhaul of the system with the aim of making the qualifications more challenging.

At the time, he said it would help pupils in England compete with the best in the world.

Former South West Norfolk MP Liz Truss served as an education minister from 2012-14.

She said: “For too long we've pretended that students' results are getting better, when all that’s been happening is the exams have been getting easier.”