GCSE students open their exam results

Top GCSE grades are on the rise despite the new "tougher" exams, as some subjects see up to a third of students awarded a grade 9.

This year 20.7 per cent of all exams were given grades 7, 8 or 9, which is equivalent to A or A*, making it the highest proportion since 2015.

In 2002, when the Joint Council for Qualifications’ records began, 16.2 per cent of exams were graded A or A*.

This rose to 20.3 per cent by 2016, the year before the reformed GCSEs were introduced.

But in the past three years, during the roll out of the revamped qualifications, the proportion of top grades has increased.

Get the latest headlines: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/


Telegraph.co.uk and    / telegraphtv   are websites of The Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.