GCSE Exam Marking To Be 'Toughened Up'

Marking of the UK’s GCSE exam system is being ‘toughened up’ from 2017 following an announcement by the exam watchdog Ofqal.

The reforms are part of a major overhaul of GCSE grading which will see the old A*-G system replaced with a new 1 to 9 scale, with 9 being the top grade.

The new grading system is designed to allow for more differentiation at the top – with a 7, 8 or 9 grade being equivalent to A or A* grade in the current system. Only the top 20 per cent of these A* or A students will be awarded the highest grade – 9 – in revamped GCSEs in English language, English literature and maths.

Around a third of Dubai’s 225,000 private school students currently study in a UK curriculum school.

For the first time, the new exam will be tied to an international benchmark, with a grade-5 pass chosen to be broadly in line with the average performance level of 16-year-olds in countries such as Finland, Canada and Switzerland that perform highly in the Programme for International Student Assessment tests run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.