GCSE results 2017: A new grading system and a whole lot of confusion

Plans for the changes were first announced back in 2003

Just over half a million 16-year-olds in the UK will collect their eagerly awaited GCSE results today – just as they have done for the last quarter of a century.

The difference this year is that for pupils in England, those results will take some explaining. There will be a mixture of familiar letter grades (A*-G), unfamiliar numbers (one-nine), and entirely new labels: good pass, standard pass and strong pass. And some experts are warning that statistically the new system is more likely to throw up incorrect results.

That’s because this year’s students are the first to experience Michael