GCSE results 2021: Wales sees record year with leap in top grades

Wales has posted another year of record GCSE results with a 10% leap in top grades awarded and a rise in grades at key subjects.

Nearly three in 10 results achieved A* to A grades.

Qualifications Wales and the WJEC were unable to provide results at A* only.

You can follow our live GCSEs analysis, updates and reaction as teenagers around Wales formally receive their results here.

The overall pass rate at all grades fell very slightly this year, after results were assessed by teachers for the second year.

Students were told their expected grades by teachers in June but they were confirmed today along with the all Wales results.

GCSE Results follow record A level results earlier this week.

Read more: I left school aged 17 with no GCSEs, now I’m at medical school aged 2

Results at a glance

Data from regulator Qualifications Wales and exam board WJEC shows:

28.7% of entries achieved an A* or A, that’s 3% up on last year’s 25.5% and a 10% leap on the 18.4% getting the top results in 2019 -the last year traditional exams were sat.

73.6% of grades were marked A* to C compared with compared with 73.8% in 2020 and more than 10% ahead of 2019 when 62.8% achieved this taking exams.

This summer 98.5% passed between grades A* to G, a slight drop on last year’s 99.6% but up on the last year that exams were sat in 2019 when 97.2% achieved this.

There were 328,658 GCSE entries this summer, a rise of 8.6% compared to 2020.

There was a 19% pass rate at the top A* to A grades for learners who sat the National/Foundation Skills Challenge Certificate in Wales.

No traditional sat exams were held this year for the second time thanks to Covid
(Image: David Davies/PA)

Broadly similar patterns in results have been seen in England and Northern Ireland.

England has a different grading system, running from 9-1, with 9-7 equivalent to A*-A, 9-4 equivalent to A*-C and 9-1 equivalent to A*-G.

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Exam board WJEC and exam regulator Qualifications Wales said results will be different to pre-pandemic years owing to the different way they have been assessed by teachers after exams were ditched again thanks to Covid.

“Given that grades have been determined by an alternative approach this year, we anticipated the overall distribution of grades to differ from those in a standard year,” the WJEC said.

Results at key subjects

Mathematics

A*-A grades awarded rose by 4.8 percentage points to 21.6%.

A*-C grades awarded rose 3.1 percentage points to 64.6%,

Maths numeracy

A*-C grades rose 3.4 percentage points to 65.3%.

A*-A grades rose by 4.7 percentage points to 22.6%.

English Language

A* to A grades rose 5.0 percentage points from 17.7% in 2020 to 22.7% this year.

A*-C grades rose to 71.3% compared with 58.9% in 2020.

Welsh First Language

Entries for GCSE Welsh First Language have increased by 9 percentage points this year.

A*-A grades rose from 22.4% in 2020 to 25.8% this year.

A*- C are stable, with a slight increase of 0.2 percentage points at 78.9%.

Many learners of vocational qualifications will also be receiving their Level 1 and 2 results today and some will have been determined in a similar way to GCSE.

GCSE results follow record A level results earlier this week with nearly half being the top A* to A grades, almost twice as many as in 2019 before the Covid pandemic.

Exam Regulator Qualifications Wales said results are not comparable to previous years because of the different circumstances with teacher assessed grades rather than sat exams – but insisted they are of the same value.

“The grades GCSE learners are receiving today have relied on the professional judgement of teachers and lecturers. Schools and colleges have been at the heart of the approach,” said Qualifications Wales chief executive Philip Blaker.

“We would like to thank them for their dedication and hard work in adapting swiftly to the flexible arrangements put in place so that grades are awarded.

“Exams were cancelled due to the pandemic and schools and colleges have been in the best position to make the right decisions for their learners as they understand the local challenges faced.

“Learners can be confident that the qualifications awarded in Wales this year carry the same value as qualifications awarded in any other year.”

A*-A

2020 25.9%

2019 18.4%^

2018 18.5%

2017 17.9%

2016 19.4%

2015 19.2%

A*-C

2020 74.5%

2019 62.8%

2018 61.6%

2017 62.8%

2016 66.6%

2015 66.6%

A*-G

2020 99.6%

2019 97.2%

2018 96.4%

2017 96.9%

2016 98.7%

2015 98.7%

Congratulating teenagers on their results Education Minister Jeremy Miles said:

“Our priority this year has been to put a system in place so that learners receive grades based on evidence of their work and enables them to progress to the next stage of their education, training or work with confidence.

“My message to this year’s GCSE students is a huge ‘well done’. You’ve had everything thrown at you over the last 18 months – periods in lockdown, time away from your friends and families, and times where you’ve missed out on many of the social activities you should be enjoying. You’ve shown tremendous resilience to overcome all of these challenges.

“I also want to congratulate learners on their vocational qualification results. Skills in priority sectors are vitally important in meeting the range of needs of the Welsh economy, now more than ever, and your hard-earned qualifications will put you in good stead for the future.

“It’s also been a remarkable achievement by all the school and college staff who’ve worked so hard to enable qualifications this year. It’s been an almighty task to put measures in place so that learners could get their results, like any other year. You should be very proud of the work you have done to help our learners progress.”

Eithne Hughes, director of ASCL Cymru, said results were fair and accurate.

“The Welsh government’s early decision to cancel public exams last autumn in light of the circumstances created by the coronavirus pandemic allowed time for a robust system to be put in place, in which leaders and teachers have been centre stage,” she said.

“We are very confident that this system will deliver fair and accurate grades to our learners, through a very different but evidence-based and robust means of assessment. It is not the same as sitting public exams and it is important that we do not fixate on comparisons with other years. We would like to congratulate students for their terrific achievements and give them huge credit for all they have achieved in extremely difficult circumstances.

“We also need to thank our leaders and teachers for all the amazing work they have done to support our learners during the course of the crisis.

“GCSEs are primarily used as a means of progression to the next stage of education or training in colleges, sixth forms and apprenticeships, although GCSE English and maths have a more lasting legacy for students. Whatever the distribution of grades happens to be this year, colleges and sixth forms have very effective admissions systems and experienced teachers, and they are extremely good at matching students to the right courses.”

This is how GCSE grades were awarded this year

GCSE, A Level and AS exams for summer 2021 were cancelled by the Welsh Government in November 2020.

It then set up the Design and Delivery Advisory Group, with representative membership from school and college leaders, to develop alternative arrangements and make recommendations to the Minister.

The group was supported by Qualifications Wales and WJEC from a regulation and operational perspective.

Following discussions, it was decided that schools and colleges would use their professional judgement to determine learners’ grades (Centre-Determined Grades) for Qualifications Wales’ approved qualifications, using evidence from the specification content their students had been taught.

The WJEC said: “Exam boards supported schools and colleges through the provision of extensive assessment materials, guidance and training, and external quality assurance, which ensured grades were determined appropriately.”

“Data for 2021 is provisional, as the planned completion date of the WJEC appeal
review process is after the publication of this document,” Qualifications Wales said.

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