Well done to all pupils who received their results today – it was good to see some fantastic grades being achieved by our students across the board and we hope many families will be celebrating this important milestone.
It’s always useful to benchmark across the whole picture when considering what has been achieved. Here are selected facts from GCSEs taken in the UK this year.
GCSE highlights
67.3%
The GCSE pass rate in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for 2019
20%
The number of UK GCSE entries scoring top grades, up from 2018 results
837
The number of students who achieved top grades in all of their GCSE subjects
3.0%
The increase in the number of entries for Modern Foreign Languages (French most popular, Spanish increasing by 7.5%)
24.9%
The proportion of females achieving 7/A at Computing versus 20.8% male
GCSE English and English Literature – females continue to outperform males
There were increases in entries of both English and English Literature of 4.4% and 3.8% respectively. English Literature entries for 15 year-olds increased by 17.9% this year, up 5777. Outcomes in both English and English Literature are stable with very little change at the three anchor grades. There was a slight increase of 0.6 percentage points (pp) in English Literature at 7/A.
Entries in both English and English Literature were above the increase in the age population, increasing by 4.4% and 3.8% respectively. This could be due to a number of factors, including:
- change in entry patterns in Wales, with candidates who may have taken English in either summer or November 2018 now taking it in summer 2019
- a continuation of the trend seen last year for students to enter English at 16 years rather than at 15 years
GCSE: science, technology and mathematics
- There was an increase in entries in both science and maths
- Outcomes were stable in both, with marginal increases in maths with more marked improvements in sciences.
- Females outperformed males in Biology and Chemistry, while males outperformed females in Physics.
- Although males continued to outperform females in mathematics, the gap is narrowing.
- Computing saw a significant increase in female entries. Females continued to outperform males in computing – 24.9% compared to 20.8* at 7/A.
Dealing with unexpected GCSE results
We hope that the GCSE news today met expectations, but if you are considering next steps due to lower than expected grades or even because of over-achievement, we are here to help. Whether revisiting A level study choices or perhaps looking at some of the very good alternatives such as apprenticeship schemes, the International Baccalaureate or BTECH.
Our experienced consultants can help you navigate your way through the many options.
Help is at hand even if timelines are tight – please contact us for an initial discussion about options.
