It’s GCSE Results Day 2017 in less than 24 hours. If you’re a teacher, or a student, you’re probably very nervous. It’s okay, we’re here for you! We’ve come together and found six articles from around the web that we think will help you understand the changes, what people are saying about them, and prepare for the day ahead. Enjoy, and good luck!
1) A Teacher’s Guide to Results Day 2017 by Holly Pritchard
“As you sit, pondering what successes and what failures you will face tomorrow, you should take a moment to think of your students. Can you remember the panic you had when you were waiting for your results? The nerves? The deep-seated urge to run away as far as you could and never look back? Remember these feelings… and then let them go.”
A reminder that results day is about the students, not the teachers. There’s a time for panicking about the school’s results, but it’s not on the day that your students are panicking.
2) How to support students on GCSE results day by Christian Poutain
“The first thing to do is tell students not to panic – it may feel like the end of the world but it’s most definitely not.”
A convenient follow up – how do you support your students on this GCSE results day? They’ll be coming to you, their teachers, for guidance. TES have provided an eight-step guide to giving them the best help possible on such a scary day.
3) GCSE results day 2017: What you need to know about the new GCSE results by Lauren Cope
“This summer marks the beginning of the end for the familiar A* to G grades. Over the next three years, they will be replaced entirely with a scale numbered nine to one – with nine the highest result, and one the lowest. But for this year, just a handful of subjects will be switched over.”
Still trying to wrap your head around the new grades? How they’re going to change over the coming years? The Eastern Daily Press explains why the grades are changing, the timescale of the changes, what they all mean, and how local teachers are reacting.
4) Changes to GCSEs are ‘deeply unsettling’, says man who introduced them by Camilla Turner
“Lord Kenneth Baker, who was education secretary under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, has criticised the new numerical grading system, saying that ‘schools won’t understand it, and certainly employers don’t at all.'”
How does the man who introduced GCSEs in the 1980s feel about the changes? Well, not so positively. Find out more of his opinions in this article from The Telegraph.
5) Exclusive: Less than a fifth of parents think new GCSE grading system is a ‘good idea’ by Eleanor Busby
Scared about so many changes? You’re not alone – parents of students are worried too. In fact, 29% of parents of year 10/11 students surveyed said they didn’t know what number grade would count as a pass!
6) ‘For the first time, this GCSE results day we will have results we can rely on’ by Grainne Hallahan
“I have been faced with classes of fresh-faced sixth formers entirely out of their depth at A level, clutching a fistful of C and B grade GCSEs that don’t match their ability. And what happens to those children? They drop out, unable to keep up with the rest of the class.”
There has been a lot of negativity about the changes to GCSEs, but not everyone thinks they’re bad. For a change of perspective, read Grainne Hallahan’s article from the TES. Grainne believes that the new ways of marking English and the eradication of coursework gives students a new, level playing field.
Whatever your opinions on the big day are, and however you feel about the changes, we can only wish you the same thing. Good luck!