GCSE Grading 1-9

As you will be aware GCSEs are now be measured against a 1-9 grading structure rather than the old A*-G model.

What do the new numbers mean?

There is no simple and direct way to convert between the old GCSE A*-G grades and the number grades.  However, to ensure that the new system is fair to those students taking the new exams the government has fixed the percentages of students gaining particular grades against the old system.  So for example the same proportion of students that gained an “A” and above in the old GCSEs will gain a grade 7 and above, however, this does not mean that a grade 7 is equal to an A grade as the content is so different.

We have included an explanation sheet from OFQUAL below that provides further information concerning the proportions of students that receive each grade compared with the old system

More detailed information on the new grades can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-gcse-9-to-1-grades-coming-soon

Challenges for Grading Within Schools

In the past GCSE grades were awarded to students when they demonstrated they had fulfilled certain criteria. For example, that they had mastered a particular skill recalled a particular piece of information. This allowed schools to make easy and relative accurate judgements about what grade a student was working at by simply checking off the criteria they had met.

The GCSE grading system is no longer linked to criteria. Instead, students are awarded grades by their ranking nationally.

This is a particular challenge to schools because we do not know how students are performing in other institutions and therefore cannot accurately assign grades to students.

Reporting Grades to parents and students

Twice yearly we will be reporting projected grades to parents and students following Common Summative assessments. Projected grades are statistically generated predictions of the grade a student is likely to score at GCSE based on their most recent subject test. All projections are checked by staff to ensure that they accurately represent each student’s performance. More information on how projected grades are generated can be found here. Currently in years 10 and 11 the projected grade is reported home along with the student’s progress to target; in years 7,8 and 9 the progress to target is reported home.