Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer congratulated students yesterday as they received their GCSE and BTec results. The percentage of top grades awarded, at A/7 or above, rose to 21.9 per cent, up from 21.8 per cent in 2024 and 20.8 per cent in 2019, the last year before the pandemic. This year, 39.8 per cent of all candidates failed to achieve a grade 4 or C in English and 41.7 per cent in maths, up from 38.1 per cent in 2024 in English and 40.5 per cent in maths. By Nicola Woolcock, Georgia Lambert, Mark Ludlow, George Willoughby, Matilda Davies and Jessica Sharkey, The Times. 

Tes reports that the gap between state and independent schools in achieving the top grades has very slightly widened to 28.6 percentage points, up from 28.4 last year. The paper summarises the key takeaways from this year's results. By Jasmine Norden.

The GCSE gender gap is the smallest it has been since the year 2000, with boys slowly closing in on the lead set by girls, according to the data. Nearly a quarter (24.5 per cent) of girls’ GCSE entries were awarded at least a grade 7/A compared to almost a fifth of boys’ entries (19.4 per cent) – a 5.1 percentage point gap. There has been a 14 per cent surge in the number of candidates taking maths and English resits, bringing the total number of post-16 entries to 400,000. Describing the situation as a "resit crisis", Jill Duffy, chief executive of the OCR exam board, said: "Tinkering at the edges of policy won’t fix this. We need fundamental reform to maths and English secondary education – especially at Key Stage 3 – to support those who fall behind in these crucial subjects." By Connie Dimsdale, iNews. The Telegraph reports that the government is considering scrapping compulsory resits for GCSE English and maths. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has said that an independent review of the curriculum will explore "how best we can support 16- to 19-year-olds who don't achieve the right level in maths and English". By Poppy Wood.

Regional inequalities in England, highlighted in last week's A-level results, are also evident in this year's GCSE results, with the gap between the highest and lowest performing regions at grade 7 now at more than 10 percentage points. Calling for action to address the divide, Pepe Di’Iasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "We simply must do more to invest – educationally, economically, and socially – in communities suffering from generational disadvantage." By Sally Weale, Richard Adams and Pamela Duncan, The Guardian. 

According to UK-wide data published by Ofqual, grammar schools registered the highest proportion of top grades (63.2 per cent), up by 2.9 percentage points since last year. The figures also show a slight fall for independent schools from 48.4 per cent to 48.1 per cent, which is reportedly in line with pre-Covid years. Schools Week also summarises the key trends in England's exams data. These include performing arts seing the largest rise in the number of students taking the subject, with an eight per cent increase between 2024 and 2025. This was followed by music (up by six per cent). Computing entries have seen a five per cent decrease. By Jack Dyson. The Guardian reports Spanish has overtaken French as the most popular GCSE language, with more than 136,000 pupils taking the subject this year. By Richard Adams. 

BBC News explains the 9–1 GCSE grading system, introduced as part of a curriculum overhaul in England in 2014. Each year examiners set the grade boundaries, which are then published by the exam boards on results day.

CEO of Parentkind Jason Elsom offers five tips for schools on how to improve their relationships with parents, including proactively seeking their input and making them feel part of the community through inclusive volunteering opportunities. "Ultimately, while tensions between staff and families will always exist, creating strong, respectful relationships that acknowledge the realities faced by both parents and schools is essential for stopping issues from flaring up," he writes. Tes. 

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