Leeds GCSE students celebrate exam results

Young people across Leeds are celebrating their GCSE results today (Thursday 23 August).

Around 7300 year 11 pupils in the city are receiving their results, with early signs suggesting that many students are continuing to do well.

Last year’s cohort were the first group to take reformed GCSEs in Maths and English.

This was part of the phased introduction of qualifications graded 9 – 1 between 2016/17 and 2019/20. These GCSEs are different in structure, content and assessment format and are graded using numbers rather than letters, with 9 being the top grade and 1 being the lowest grade.

This year, 20 further qualifications have been introduced which will also be graded 9 – 1 for the first time, including most of the larger entry subjects.

Leeds City Council is still collecting results from across the city, but provisional results so far suggest that there has been an increase in the proportion of young people in Leeds achieving a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, with some schools reporting marked improvements.

Councillor Jonathan Pryor, Executive Board Member for Learning, Skills and Employment, said:

“I would like to congratulate everyone who has taken their GCSEs this year for the hard work and effort that has gone into achieving these results. Exams are a difficult and stressful time but with the help and support of their families and schools, students have done themselves and the city proud.

“Support, advice and guidance is available to those young people still considering their future options after receiving their results today, either from school or the Next Steps event at Kirkgate Market next Thursday. I would like to wish all our young people all the very best as they choose their next steps.”

Students who did not get the GCSE results they needed for the future path they were hoping to take, or are still considering their options, are being invited to attend a Next Steps event at Leeds Kirkgate Market next Thursday (30 August) between 11am to 2pm.

Organised by Leeds City Council in partnership with post-16 learning providers, students will be able to find out what options are available to them at sixth forms and colleges across the city as well as information about apprenticeships and traineeships.

For more information on the Next Steps event and post 16 options, visit https://www.leeds.gov.uk/leedspathways/results.

Notes to editors:

Reformed GCSEs are being phased in between 2016/17 and 2019/20.

The additional 20 reformed GCSEs are ancient languages (classical Greek, Latin); art and design; biology; chemistry; citizenship studies; combined science (double award); computer science; dance; drama; food preparation and nutrition; geography; history; modern foreign languages (French, German, Spanish); music; physics; physical education; and religious studies.

They are completely different qualifications to previous GCSEs in these subjects. The new GCSE content is more challenging; new GCSEs are linear (that is, they are assessed at the end of a two year period of study rather than assessed as smaller modules); there is far more assessment by exam and less coursework; and the new grades do not map directly onto previous A*-G grades.

In 2017, 2018 and 2019 young people will have received/will receive their GCSE results in a combination of numbers and letters, as these cohorts take a mixture of both reformed and legacy GCSEs.