GCSE results day 2020 LIVE: Record year with 40% rise in top exam grade after major Government U-turn

The proportion of GCSE entries awarded top grades has surged to a record high after a U-turn meant results could be based on teachers’ estimated grades .

Hundreds of thousands of youngsters received their GCSE results on Thursday following major changes – but around 200,000 Btec pupils will not get their final results following a last-minute review of grades.

More than one in four (25.9 per cent) GCSE entries in England scored one of the three top grades this year, up from just over a fifth (20.7 per cent) last summer, figures from exams regulator Ofqual show. The percentage of exams graded level 9 – the top mark – has increased by 40 per cent - from 4.5 per cent last year to 6.3 per cent this year.

It comes after GCSE and A-level students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were told they would now be awarded the higher of either their teachers’ grade or the moderated grade following an outcry.

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