GCSE students share nerves ahead of collecting their results TODAY

2022-08-25

‘Why am I struggling to sleep like its Christmas Eve?’: Worried GCSE students share their nerves ahead of collecting their results TODAY with number of top marks set to fall

Schools began releasing GCSE grades to students at 8am this results day
Grades are expected to drop by a record amount following two years of inflation
Teens are taking to social media to share their nerves and reassure one another
One student likened the wait for her results to the excitement of Christmas Eve
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As students begin receiving their GCSE results this morning in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, they are flooding social media with memes to let off some steam and express their nerves.

Results come out from 8am this morning, with grade boundaries for leading exam boards including AQA, OCR and Edexcel released around the same time.

Teenagers are trying their best to keep things light ahead of results, using humour to reassure themselves and others.

But one meme sharer seems rather more excited than nervous. Amy shared a picture of F1 star Charles LeClerc captioned ‘internally screaming’ – but said she felt like it was Christmas Eve amid all the excitement.

Then again, it might just be a clever strategy to convince yourself that your results are going to be great – which is some optimism that doesn’t go amiss this year.

This year results are expected to take a plunge after the first set of exams since the coronavirus pandemic, with tens of thousands of students affected.

Experts predict that there could be around 230,000 fewer top grades compared to last year, but 230,000 more than 2019.

Ahead of this, one student wrote: ‘I don’t want my GCSE results they can keep them idc [I don’t care]’.

While this might seem appealing in the short term, it’s definitely not a long-term solution to results day nerves after students have already waited nearly two months to find out how they did.

One savvy social media user even recreated Jeremy Clarkson’s A-Level tweet online, building a virtual boat and writing: ‘Don’t worry if your GCSE results are disappointing.

‘I got a C and 2 Us and I’m currently holidaying on this Cruise Ship.’

Meanwhile others reassured themselves that regardless how their results go today, there are all sorts of options available, from jobs to A-Levels.

Students are facing a record fall in grades when compared to last year as this year’s cohort faces the first year of exam-based marking since the pandemic.

In 2020 and 2021 grades were awarded by teachers and grades were higher than in previous years.

Although the government is introducing a return to exams, this year is a halfway point when exams were conducted as normal, but grade boundaries are expected to be lower than in 2019.

Of all entries, 230,000 fewer are expected get at least a 7 this year compared with last year, while the number getting at least a standard pass – grade 4, roughly equivalent to a C – will drop by 280,000, according to analysis.

The study by Alan Smithers, professor of education at Buckingham University, suggests the plunge at grade 7 will affect an estimated 75,000 pupils, while about 50,000 fewer are expected to get at least a 4 across six GCSEs.

Grade inflation is now being reversed after marks soared during the pandemic due to exams being cancelled and teachers deciding grades. Those that fail to get a 4 in maths or English are required to resit until the age of 18.

Last year, the proportion of GCSE entries awarded top grades surged to an all-time high after exams were axed for the second year in a row due to Covid-19 and students were instead given results determined by their teachers.

Overall, 28.9 per cent of UK GCSE entries were awarded one of the top grades, up by 2.7 percentage points on 2020. In 2019, when exams were last held, only 20.8 per cent of entries achieved at least a seven or an A grade.

While traditional A*-G grades are used in Northern Ireland and Wales, in England these have been replaced in with a 9-1 system, where nine is the highest. A 4 is broadly equivalent to a C grade, and a 7 is roughly the same as an A.

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