Firstly, huge congratulations to everyone getting their results today. There will be lots of very happy young people (and relieved parents!) out there.
The results nationally are pretty steady compared with last year, with some encouraging signs in maths in particular.
- 21.8% of entries achieved grades 7–9 (21.7% in 2025).
- 67.0% achieved grade 4+ (67.1% in 2025).
- Among 16-year-olds: 23.1% achieved grades 7–9 and 70.7% grade 4+.
But the numbers only tell us so much.
What I’m much more interested in today is the individual young person opening that envelope or logging on to see their results.
Some will have got exactly what they hoped for. Some will have done better than they expected. And some will be sitting there thinking, “I worked so hard for this, why didn’t I get the grade I wanted?”
If that’s your child, give them a bit of time.
Don’t worry about what their friends got. Don’t compare them with siblings. And don’t feel you have to have the whole thing sorted out by lunchtime.
Talk to the school or college, find out what the options are and work out the next step together.
I’ve said this many times, but an exam is a snapshot. Sleep, stress, anxiety and simply having a bad day can all affect performance.
A grade matters, of course it does. But it doesn’t tell us everything a young person knows and it certainly doesn’t tell us what they’re capable of doing in the future.
Sometimes a different grade means taking a slightly different route.
That’s OK. There is more than one way to get where you want to go. I was on the BBC this afternoon talking all things GCSEs and what to do if your child didn’t get the grades they expected. You can listen again here at 10 minutes in.
Good luck to everyone getting results today and well done for getting this far.