GCSE results day 2024: Exam boards told to grade three subjects 'more generously' - here's why

Ofqual told exam boards to mark three different GCSEs “more generously” this summer.

They include two languages and a STEM subject.

It might make a difference to some pupil’s final grades, including the amount of candidates getting top grades and low passes.

Three GCSE subjects have been graded “more generously” this year, following guidance from Ofqual.

Today is GCSE results day, and students across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland are picking up their long-awaited results from their school. They can choose to either open them then and there, surrounded by school support staff for any unexpectedly disappointing results, or can take them home to share the experience with their loved ones.

Ofqual says that its request for exam boards to shake up their grading for a few GCSE papers could have a small impact on some of these grades. But which subjects were affected, and just how much of a difference is it likely to make?

Here’s what you need to know:

Which GCSEs has Ofqual asked exam boards to adjust grading for?

Ofqual - the government’s qualifications regulator - asked all exam boards to make some adjustments to their grading standards in three different GCSE subjects this summer; computer science, French and German.

These adjustments will have a “small impact” on pupils’ results in these subjects, today the regulator says. But overall the changes are quite small, and since they only apply to three subjects, Ofqual still expects overall GCSE results to be similar to summer 2023.

The computer science GCSE has only been around since 2012. Ofqual says it has asked exam boards to award “more generously” at grades 9, the top mark available, 7, equivalent to an A letter grade, and 4, the lowest passing grade.

For French, Ofqual has told exam boards to be more generous with 7s and 4s, while German GCSE markers have been told to make “further positive adjustments” to grades 9, 7 and 4.

Why do they need to be marked ‘more generously’?

Ofqual says that students and teachers may be less familiar with the subject’s relatively new assessments and marking methods, which is why it asked exam boards to take that into consideration when setting their grade boundaries this year.

The computer science GCSE is a relatively new qualification, but in that time it has rapidly changed, as has the cohort of students taking it. Ofqual says that in the years leading up to the pandemic, 2014 to 2019, grading had become more strict. But they said it had happened too gradually for exam boards to notice and take into account when setting grade boundaries each year.

French and German grading was changed up last year, to bring them closer to how other languages - like Spanish - were marked. Ofqual says that last summer’s language GCSE grades did line up better than they had before the pandemic, but work to even out the qualifications and make them truly comparable was always likely to take more than one year.

The government has issued some advice for parents and carers supporting students as they receive their exam results. This can often be a tense and emotionally fraught time, especially if things don’t go as expected. You can check this advice out online here. https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/08/20/gcse-results-day-2024-number-grading-system/