Exam results: GCSE grades down in Wales

Ben, 15, (right) gets his results at Llanishen High School, Cardiff - including eight A* grades.

Ben, 15, (right) gets his results at Llanishen High School, Cardiff, including eight A* grades

By Bethan Lewis
BBC Wales education and family correspondent

GCSE grades in Wales are down on last year as results move closer to pre-pandemic levels.

Like A-level results last week, grades were lower overall than last year but higher than before Covid.

Results showed 21.7% got the very top grades, compared with 25.1% in 2022.

The exams regulator said grade boundaries were lower in some subjects to support students hit by the pandemic.

School leaders said "a glide back" to 2019 levels post-pandemic was better than "a crash landing".

Nearly two-thirds of grades were between A* and C.

Students are also receiving Skills Challenge Certificate and level 1 and 2 vocational qualifications results.

What are the GCSE results?

  • 64.9% were A* to C, down from 68.6% in 2022, the first year exams were held again after the pandemic

  • At the very top grades, 21.7% got A* and A grades, but this was a drop on the previous three years, although better than before the pandemic

  • 15.2% got A* and A in mathematics (down on 18% last year) and 16.6% the top grades at mathematics-numeracy (a drop on 18.7%)

  • English language top grades were 15.8% (down from 19.5% in 2022)

  • Welsh as a second language saw 22.4% with A* and A - only slightly down on the year before

The waiting is over

Milly, 16, from Monmouthshire, said: "I think the waiting process between the end of exams and actually getting the results is worse than doing the exams".

Milly and her teammate Alyssa - both 16 - play for Raglan Junior Football Club.

Alyssa, who plays in centre midfield, said waiting for results had been a "long, stressful process" and had meant some "loss of sleep".

They were in Year 8 when the pandemic hit in 2020 and, while they did not have exams at the time, they said the disruption had a big impact.

"When you're at home [with] no resources, you're very unmotivated to do anything and obviously we didn't have teacher support in the flesh," said Alyssa.

Amie Dembicki

Teammates Milly and Alyssa say the wait for GCSE results has been a stressful one

But as with A-levels, there has been extra support for pupils in Wales this year, including advanced information of some topics coming up in the exams.

Meanwhile, grade boundaries are likely to be lower than in pre-pandemic years.

The approach taken in Wales was different to England where the aim was to ensure 2023 results were broadly in line with 2019 grades.

Qualifications Wales said extra support was due to be dropped for next year's exams.

Emotions were high at Morgan Llwyd Welsh Secondary School as results envelopes were opened

Collecting results

Tyler, 16, is celebrating his GCSE results at Llanishen High School, Cardiff, after getting one A*, two As and six Bs.

He is hearing impaired and a keen sportsman and aims to be a professional rugby player.

Tyler from Llanishen High School hopes to become a professional rugby player

Siri, 16, moved to Cardiff only at the start of Year 11 from Hyderabad, India, but has managed A* in biology, A in chemistry and an A in physics.

She is looking forward to going into sixth form and will be joined by her friend Caitlin, 16, who was "very happy to get the grades she wanted" and shed a tear as she opened the envelope.

Caitlin (left) and Siri are looking forward to attending sixth form together

Luke, 15, said he was wearing his "achievement jacket" to collect his Year 10 results.

He moved to Wales from Romania six years ago and says his results will help him to achieve his dream of being a software engineer.

Luke, 15, wearing an "achievement jacket" to celebrate his results

At a Wales-wide level it's the same story as last week's A-levels - grades down on last year, but still higher than in 2019.

GCSE pupils, like A-level students, had some advance information before exams and lower grade boundaries as a buffer to avoid a nasty bump down to pre-pandemic grading.

I asked the Education Minister Jeremy Miles, here at Ysgol Morgan Llwyd in Wrexham, whether that extra support would be dropped next year.

That's what he expected, he said, while acknowledging the effects of Covid won't have disappeared.

A more gradual approach to getting back to 'normal' compared to England does mean that a significant drop in grades in Wales is likely next year too.

What is the response?

Education Minister Jeremy Miles congratulated pupils, adding: "I welcome these results as our journey continues back to pre-pandemic arrangements.

"These learners have had to face immense challenges impacting on their learning opportunities over the past few years as they've progressed through their secondary schooling and onto their GCSEs."

Qualifications Wales said results were "broadly midway" between those awarded before the pandemic and 2022, the first year learners sat exams as we emerged from Covid.

Katie, 16, is being treated to a "curry and techy present" after getting six A* and five As in her GSCEs in Cardiff

How many exams were sat this year?

There were 300,409 GCSE exam entries - down by 3.4% compared with 2022, but up slightly on 2019.

Of those entries, 6.4% were at Year 10, so students taking exams a year early, down by a third on the previous year.

English literature had the highest proportion of pupils from Year 10 taking the exam - making up 45% of entries.

But it was even higher in 2022 when 57% of pupils sitting the exam were taking it a year early.

Business studies continued to see a rise in entries (up 49% on 2019 and 30% since last year) along with economics.

But compared with before pandemic, German (-45%), French (-37%) and English literature (down 23%) saw declines in entries.

Chemistry replaced biology in the top 10 of most popular subjects.

How are GCSEs in Wales different to England?

In Wales, GCSEs are graded A* to G, but in England the numbers nine to one are used.

After exams were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 and teachers determined grades, there were extra measures in place when exams went ahead in 2022.

Results were still higher than before the pandemic so the decision was made to grade generously again this year on a "journey" back to the process before Covid.

Eithne Hughes says there may still need to be a "safety net" for some subjects in 2024

Eithne Hughes, director of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) in Wales, said students had shown "exceptional" resilience.

Attendance remained a problem and in the run up to exams it was "eye-wateringly low" for children from more disadvantaged backgrounds, she said.

On top of that, the cost of living crisis caused extra problems for some pupils.

She said it was right to keep extra support measures this year, adding that a "safety net" may be needed for some subjects again next year if pupils continued to struggle, despite plans to drop extra support..

Additional reporting by Steve Duffy and Oscar Edwards

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