London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

GCSE results 2021: Record passes and top grades

GCSE results 2021: Record passes and top grades

GCSE students have received another set of record grades, in the second year of Covid disruption to exams in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Top grades (7/As and above) rose to 28.9% from 26.2% last year, while grades 4/Cs and above - seen as passes - rose to 77.1% up from 76.3%.

This is a smaller rise than last year, the first time exams were cancelled and teacher assessed grades were used.

Exams regulators have insisted the process has been fair and thorough.

Teachers submitted grades for the more than half a million pupils on GCSE courses this year, using evidence such as mock exams, course work and tests.

There were more top GCSE grades, but the increase was not as sharp as at A-level


* Girls moved further ahead of boys - 33.4% of girls' results grade 7/A, 24.4% for boys

* Northern Ireland had highest grades

* In England, independent schools had biggest increase in top grades - 61.2% of results at grade 7/A, compared with 26.1% in comprehensives, 28.1% in academies

* Pupils eligible for free school meals slipped slightly further behind

* London had most top grades in England, north east the least

* 3,606 pupils got all grade 9s

There are different devolved systems for GCSEs:

* English exam boards use a numeric 1-9 for grades

* Wales uses alphabetic A to G grading system

* pupils in Northern Ireland take a combination of both

'Very different year'


The two years of replacement grades, after exams were cancelled in the pandemic, have had significantly higher results, for GCSEs and A-levels.

Exam officials say it reflects that no one has had a bad day in an exam and that pupils had multiple chances to show their best potential.


England's exam watchdog Ofqual said the system was fair, each centre had its assessment policy reviewed and samples of work were checked during a "quality assurance" process.

Exam boards say that below 1% of grades were changed in the checking process.

Opening exam results in Core's city academy in Birmingham

As well as getting GCSEs, more than half a million vocational qualifications were also issued, including for 230,000 BTec students.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb defended the way GCSE results had been awarded, saying this had been a "very different year" and it was right that exams were cancelled.

"This was the best alternative to exams," he told BBC Breakfast. "I think people can be confident of the grades that have been awarded this year."


Mr Gibb said longer term, he wanted to get back to a pre-pandemic system where there are no "significant changes" year-on-year in the grades awarded to students.

Labour's Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green said the exam results were a "stark warning" of a widening social divide.

"Children on free school meals have been abandoned by this government and students in state schools are again being outstripped by their more advantaged private school peers," she said.

Learning loss


Jon Andrews of the Education Policy Institute think tank warned the higher results should not "distract us from the huge learning losses that students have faced".

"There is a risk that higher grades awarded to young people conceal the underlying losses that they have experienced from the pandemic."

Prof Alan Smithers, of the Centre of Education and Employment Research, at Buckingham University, said it would be difficult for the government to reverse the trend of increasing grades over the coming years - as the higher grades are popular with parents and schools.

"It will be quite a task for the government to put the genie back into the bottle," he said.

But head teachers say the replacement grades used this year will allow pupils to progress to the next stage of their education.

National Association of Head Teachers leader Paul Whiteman said it was important that these pupils have access to any additional academic or pastoral support they need as they progress into the next stage of their education.

Geoff Barton, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "It is important to focus on the achievements of this cohort rather than fixate on comparisons with other years, which are somewhat meaningless."

View from a school
Syeda in Dagenham got all grade 9s in her GCSE results

Syeda had been hoping for high grades after sitting 62 assessments, instead of the usual exams, at Sydney Russell School in Dagenham, east London.

And her hopes have been realised. "I did it. I got all 9s in my GCSEs and two distinctions," she said.

"It's the best possible results and I'm so proud of myself. I think there is a big sense of relief."

Her mum, Shahima came to the school with her to share the experience.

She says: "I'm extremely, extremely proud of Syeda. She's put so much effort and hard work into this and lots of sleepless nights."

"It has been a bit crazy for everyone involved in this process this year," she says.

'Rollercoaster'
Roman says he would have preferred the regular exam system

Roman is celebrating four grade 7s and four grade 8s in his GCSEs.

"I'm definitely satisfied, but in a sense I feel I've been bumped down a few grades due to some exams being very different and out of the ordinary this year compared to other years."

He says the challenges he's faced over the past two years have had an impact.

"It's been a rollercoaster. So many ups and downs and so many battles, both mental battles and physical ones."

He says he would actually have preferred to sit exams as he feels one exam at the end would have been easier than the constant pressure of lots of tests.

"I don't think anyone could have ever imagined stuff like this," she says

"But the fact is that we have got through it - and hopefully our results tomorrow will prove that we have worked hard."

To those people who criticise the value of this year's grades, Syeda says: "I would tell them they should try and be in our place."

"I don't think anyone can know what it is like unless you are experiencing it yourself."

She is aiming to sit A-levels next year and study English literature at the University of Cambridge.


GCSE results day: "It's amazing, I can't believe it"

Schools minister: "People can be confident of the grades awarded"


It is "pretty astonishing" that the education secretary is still in his job, says the Labour leader.


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×