Live updates! I/GCSE Results 2021

The GCSE and IGCSE is taken by students at 16 years of age with the results of the exams guiding students’ choices at A Level, or latterly, IB Diploma. They are also used as additional evidence for university and college entry as part of the application process.

The examination component of the I/GCSE was cancelled again this summer, with lockdown continuing to have an impact on learning. The UK Government’s Department of Education and its exams regulator, OFQUAL confirmed earlier this year that grades would be based on teachers’ assessments, with last year’s controversial algorithm ditched.

Results issued by the UK's Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) for England this morning show a significant increase in the number of students achieving the top grades of 7/A and above – nearly a third (28.9%) compared to only a fifth (20.8%) in 2019, when exams were last held.

• The proportion of students getting the top grades of 7/A and above is 28.9%, an increase of 2.6% on last year
• 7.4% of students achieved the highest grade of 9 in this year's results, compared with 6.3% in 2020 and 4.5% in 2019
• A total of 3,606 students in England received straight 9s this summer, compared with 2,645 in 2020 and 837 in 2019
• 77.1% of students achieved a grade 4/C or higher, which is up 0.8% from 2020

What follows are the live updates for UAE schools as their students receive their 2021 results.  The grading structure for GCSE exams is from 9 (the highest) to 1, whilst for IGCSE, it is from A* (the equivalent of a Grade 8) to G. A Grade 4 or C is considered a pass.

Find your school
GEMS FirstPoint School
Dubai British School Emirates Hills
Dubai British School Jumeirah Park
Repton School Abu Dhabi
Repton School Dubai
Dubai English Speaking College
Dubai College
GEMS Metropole School
GEMS National School Al Barsha
Al Ain Academy
Al Mamoura Academy
Al Yasmina Academy
Al Bateen Academy
Grammar School Dubai
GEMS Wellington International School
Kent College Dubai
Horizon International School
Jumeirah English Speaking School
Safa Community School
Brighton College Abu Dhabi
Brighton College Al Ain
Brighton College Dubai
Sunmarke School
The English College Dubai
Hartland International School
British International School Abu Dhabi
GEMS Jumeirah College
Cambridge High School AD
Cambridge International School AD
Cambridge International School Dubai
GEMS Founders Dubai
GEMS Westminster School RAK
GEMS Westminster School Sharjah
GEMS Winchester School Dubai
GEMS Winchester School Fujeirah
Our Own English School Al Ain
The Westminster School Dubai
The Winchester School Jebel Ali
Nord Anglia School Dubai
British School al Khubairat
Sharjah English School
TABLE OF RESULTS
What's the difference between IGCSE and GCSE?
How have exam results been awarded?

The first school to issue their results to WhichSchoolAdvisor.com was GEMS FirstPoint School.  The school proudly announces that its first ever I/GCSE cohort of 96 students had been entered for some 790 exams. 12% of all grades awarded were at Grade 9 (for GCSE) the highest possible grade,  with 27% of awards at A* (the equivalent of Grade 9/8, 50% of awards at A*-A (Grades 9-7), 75% at A*-B (Grades 9-6) and 98% at A*-C (Grades 9-4).

Highlights of the results were that 58% of students received an A*grade in at least one GCSE, whilst 93% of students achieved a B grade or above in their results. 9 students achieved straight A*s or As in their results.

The highest achievers were Thant Sin Linn Myint with 11 A*s, Amy Olivia Downes with 9 A*s and 1x A, Adaa Salwan and Lewis James Paige who both achieved 9 A*s and 2 As, Karma Mahmoud Fouda who received 7 A*s and Susan Thomas who was awarded 8 A*s and 2 As.

GEMS FirstPoint School also had a cohort of three students who were entered for the Level 3 BTEC qualification and achieved two passes at Merit and one at Pass.

The second school to share its results was Dubai British School Emirates Hills where a cohort of 72 students were entered for their I/GCSE exams. 38% of entries were awarded A*, 58% achieved A*-A, 78% A*-B and 98% A*-C with a 100% pass rate for the cohort.

This was also the first year that Dubai British School Emirates Hills also had a graduating Year 11 class whose students had also entered for BTEC examinations. The majority of students achieved the highest possible BTEC award of Distinction*. These students will now enter Year 12 A-level and BTEC courses.

The highest achieving students were Abdelrazek Adham who was awarded eight Grade 9s and D* in BTEC, Malik Shrishti and Laila Nicholson who both achieved nine Grade 9s and one 8, and Tilly Sams who was awarded seven Grade 9s and two Grade 8s.

At Dubai British School Jumeirah Park, the younger sister school to DBS Emirates Hills, the cohort of 44 students entered for the I/GCSE qualification achieved 31% of results at Grade 9, 47% of results at A*, 63% at A*-A, 82% at A*-B and 100% at A*-C with a 100% pass rate for all students.  The standout students at DBS JP were Riti, who achieved Grade 9’s in each of her eleven GCSE subjects, David who achieved Grade nine Grade 9’s and 1 Grade 8, Bisher who achieved eight Grade 9’s and two Grade 6’s, and Matthew who achieved seven Grade 9’s, two Grade 8’s and one Grade 6. 

DBSJP is particularly proud of the fact that all students of all abilities were entered for the exams, a testament to the school's commitment to inclusion, of which it has been a leading proponent. 

Repton Abu Dhabi’s first GCSE cohort achieved a 100% pass rate for students in  achieving 5 or more GCSE grades at 9-4’s (A*-C) including English and Mathematics.
44% of Repton Abu Dhabi’s exam entries were awarded Grade 9-8 (A*), with 64% attaining the Grade 9-7’s (A*-A).

Standout students included Omar Abu Drya  who achieved 9/8’s, (A*) grades for all nine exam entries. His outstanding performance has attained him an academic scholarship at the Sixth Form for the 2021/2022 academic year at Repton Abu Dhabi. Marina Perez Martin has also been awarded an academic scholarship at the Sixth Form after achieving Grade 9/8’s (A*) and one grade 7 (A) across 8 subjects.

Liyan Al Ramahi also attained grade 9/8’s (A*) across all nine subjects for which she was entered, and Sami Youssef attained eight grade 9/8’s (A*) and one grade 7 (A).

39% of Repton School Dubai students achieved the 9-8 grade (A*) and 58% secured the 9-7 grade (A*-A). As an inclusive school, Repton Dubai is particularly proud that all students of determination achieved 5 or more IGCSE’s at grade 9-4 (A* - C) including English and Mathematics. 

Standout students this year are Pierre Touma who attained grade 9’s (A*) in all his subjects and has enabled Pierre to secure on a place on the IBDP course for Year 12. Jana El Zahhar also attained grade 9’s (A*) in all subjects and will be joining Pierre as an IBDP student, as will Zeren Demerkilic who similarly attained grade 9’s (A*) in all subjects. 

Dubai English Speaking College has one of the largest GCSE cohorts with 227 students entered for exams. The students did very well indeed with 14% of exams awarded a Grade 9, 53% Grades 9-7, 75% Grades 9-6 and 99% of entries awarded Grades 9-4.  The overall student pass rate was 99%.  The highest achievers were awarded 9 passes at Grade 9.

Dubai College, where entry is selective, again produced a raft of highly-graded results. The cohort of 123 Year 11 students entered for the IGCSE/GCSE qualification achieved over 63% of entries at Grade 9, 84% at Grades 9-8, over 95% of Grades at 9-7 and a full set of entries at Grades 9-5, a 100% pass rate.

In addition, the entire cohort of Year 10 students sat their English Language IGCSE one year early, with 138 students (96.50%) gaining a grade 9 or 8. These figures represent slight increases on those achieved by the 2020 cohort. A full set of grade 9s was achieved by 27 students (up from 22 last year) with an additional 36 Year 11s achieving a full set of grades 8 and 9.

At GEMS Metropole School a cohort of 137 students were entered for 1,000 exams.  8.6% of entries achieved Grade 9, 21.2% were awarded Grades 9-8, 37.8% achieved Grades 9-7,  75.5% Grades 9-5 and a total of 88.9% were awarded Grades 9-4. 38 students were awarded at least one Grade 9, whilst 71 students achieved at least one Grade 9-8 (A*). The highest achieving students gained seven Grade 9s and one Grade 8.

GEMS National School Al Barsha had a cohort of 42 students who were entered for 313 exams. 4.2% of results were awarded at Grade 9, 12.5% at Grade 9-8, just over a quarter (26.8%) achieved Grades 9-7, whilst 69% of entries were awarded Grades 9-5 and 87.2% Grades 9-4. Nine students achieved one or more Grade 9s, whilst 18 achieved Grades 9 to 8. Outstanding students were named as Maryam Al Jarman, Hasan Ali Ayesha, Hajara Sanda, Kinan Fayez Al Maarawi, Mohammad Alqubaisi, and Omar Shabban.

Aldar Academies provided a summary of the performance of the four schools where students were entered for I/GCSE exams. The results account for students at Al Mamoura Academy, Al Ain Academy, Al Bateen Academy and Al Yasmina Academy.

The group reported a 94% pass rate for its students, with 56% per cent of students achieving a Grade 7 or higher with more than 19% per cent securing a Grade 9. 93% per cent achieved a Grade 4 or higher, overall. The percentage of students achieving 5 or more Grade 9 results (including English and mathematics) increased to over 12% of students.

Over 40% of grades at Al Ain Academy were awarded a Grade 9. One third of students at Al Mamoura Academy received a grade of 8 or above and over half of its students achieved more than five GCSEs at grade 7 or higher.

At Al Yasmina Academy,  nearly 40% of entries were at Grade 8 and above, with an overall pass rate of 95%. In addition, Al Yasmina Academy had over half of its students achieve more than five GCSEs at Grade 7 of higher. Al Bateen Academy had 50% of entries awarded Grade 7 or higher, with an overall pass rate above 90%, along with 10% of the students achieving at least five GCSEs at Grade 9, including English and Mathematics.

At the Grammar School Dubai a cohort of 79 students entered 410 exams. 15% of entries were awarded the highest Grade 9, 35% of results were awarded Grades 9-8, and almost half (49%) received Grades 9-7. Grades 9-5 were awarded to 78% of results, whilst 89% of entries achieved Grades 9-4.

With a cohort of 156 students entered for 1,553 exams, GEMS Wellington International School reported 36% of entries awarded the highest Grade 9, with 52% of all results awarded Grades 9-8. 70% of entries were awarded Grades 9-7,  with 92% of awards at Grades 9-5 and 98% of entries awarded Grades 9-4. 105 students achieved one or more Grade 9s.

At Kent College Dubai, 37 students formed the cohort for 2021. 12% of results were Grade 9, 24% Grades 9-8, and 48% Grades 9-7, doubling up at each grade boundary. In addition, 69% of awards were from Grades 9-5 and 94% at Grades 9-4. Standout students at the college included: Femke Soens who achieved 5 Grade 9 and 5 Grade 8 passes; Anaik Gill with 5 Grade 9, 4 Grade 8 and 1 Grade 7 passes;  David Vellinga who was awarded 4 Grade 9, 5 Grade 8 and 1 Grade 7 results and Sofia Syed who achieved 5 Grade 9s, 1 Grade 8 and 3 Grade 7s.

Horizon International School had a cohort of 30 students this year. 60% of entries were awarded A*-A/9-7 grades and 76% of entries achieved A*-B/9-6. Horizon International School saw 99% of all entries awards A*-C/9-4.

In terms of individual subjects, English Language entries saw 100% of students attain a grade 9-4. On average students achieved 1.7 grades higher than their target grades. In Mathematics, 100% of students attained a grade 9-5. 63% of students achieved a 9-7 grade. On average students achieved nearly 2 grades higher than their target grades. 

The highest number of grades achieved by an individual student was 8 A*s, 1 Grade 8  and one Distinction.

Jumeirah English Speaking School Arabian Ranches students' can be as proud of their IGCSE results as they were of their IB results a month ago. 130 students were entered for 1,163 exams.  Almost half (47.7%) of results were awarded Grade 9, 68.9% at Grades 9-8, 85% at Grades 9-7 and over 95% at Grades 9-6. Almost 100% of awards (99.9% in fact) were awarded passes at Grades 9-4, and 100% of students achieved at least 5 GCSE including Maths and English.

At Safa Community School, the overall student pass rate at A*-C/9-4 was 84%. 77% of all GCSE subjects were awarded Grades 9-6 and 1 in 5 students in the Year 11 cohort achieved ten or more GCSEs at grades 9-6. 

In individual subjects, over a third of grades awarded in Mathematics were Grade 9, whilst 89% of grades were awarded at Grades 9-6 and 58% at Grades 9-7 for English.  
In all Sciences (Chemistry, Physics and Biology) 100% of grades were 9-6, with Physics entries achieving 54% of all grades at Grade 9. Nearly 50% all grades in Arabic were Grade 9s, and 88% of grades were Grades 9-6.

Safa Community School also had Early entry students in Year 9 for Maths, and this cohort achieved 100% Grades 9-7.  The Year 10 Early entry students achieved 100% Grade 9s.

In addition, the cohort of Business students who were entered for their BTEC qualification achieved 25% of awards at Distinction and 63% at Merit.

Stand out students were Eylul Sisman, with eleven Grade 9s and one Grade 8 at GCSE,
Esha Amin with eleven Grade 9s, Hana Haridy with ten Grade 9s and Augustin Lefebvre
with six Grade 9s and five Grade 8s.

Meanwhile, at Deira International School a cohort of 108 student achieved a remarkable 77% of awards at A*-A, whilst 51% of grades were awarded at A*. 89% of results were awarded A*-B and 97% achieved A*-C.  There was a 100% pass rate for the cohort.  Stand out students included Daniel Nasri, Marcelle Shouly, Meera Hallak, Muhammad Nadeem, Murtaza Asghar, Nabil El Hage Ali, Nayla Waly, Pradyumna Saligram, Roxanne Dubash and Vaynika Gupta, all of whom achieved A* in all subject for which they were entered.

Bloom Education's Brighton Colleges Al Ain, Abu Dhabi and Dubai released their results together.

At Brighton College Abu Dhabi, one third of entries were awarded Grade 9s, whilst 56% of entries were Grade 9 - 8 (A*), over three-quarters (77%) of entries were  awarded Grades 9 - 7 (A*-A), 92% were Grades 9-6 (A* - B) and 99% of awards were  Grade 9-5 (A*- High C).

Results in STEM subjects were particularly impressive, with 87.3% of grades across all three Sciences awarded at Grades 9-7, whilst in Mathematics 80.2% achieved these grades.  Arts subjects also achieved high grades, with Art (71%), Drama (78%) and Design Technology (64%) awarded at Grades 9-8 this year. 

High achieving students celebrating top level grades this year include Kai Bevan with 11 Grade 9s, Dheer Baldua, Diksha Jain, Nandini Srinvasan and Noelle Dartswith each awarded 10 Grade 9s and one Grade 8, and, finally, Junayd Hussain, and Emily Dyer each receiving 10 Grade 9s and two Grade 8s.

At Brighton College Al Ain, 99% of students achieved passes at Grades 9 to 4, whilst 36% of exams taken this year by BCAA students resulted in Grade 9s, followed by 56% of awards at Grades 9 to 8 and 78% at Grades 9 to 7.

This year’s results show how students achieved very strong results in sciences and mathematics, with two out of every three achieving the top grades (9-7) in Mathematics, and 9 out of every 10 students achieving Grades 9-7 across the three science subjects; Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

Outstanding students this year were Myra Shahbazi, Grace Clarke and Ala’a Alazizi, who each achieved nine Grade 9s, whilst Abdelrahman Sadawey achieved eight Grade 9s and two Grade 8s, including Business Studies which he took in his spare time.

In Dubai, the newest Brighton College branch received results for its first ever cohort of GCSE students. The entire cohort achieved Grade 9 to 8 in Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Physical Education and 100% Grade 9s achieved in Art.

55% of all examinations achieved an impressive Grade 9-8 (A*), with 29% awarded Grade 9, 69% Grade 9 - 7 (A*-A), 81% Grade 9-6 (A* - B), and 99% Grade 9 - 4 (A*-C).

Brighton College is one of several schools who monitor and publish their 'value added' results which is a comparison of the actual grades achieved against predicted grades arrived at through benchmark tests taken by students on entry to the college.  With a positive score of 1.92, this means that students achieved, on average, nearly two grades above the predicted grades.

Highest  achieving students celebrating top level grades this year include Head Girl, Madeleine Cranitch, was awarded nine Grade 9s/A*, Ross Bannerman, who achieved six Grade 9s/A*s, and two Grade 8s/As, Alice Farrow with four Grade 9s/A*s and three Grade 8s/As and Emirati student Lora Atatreh, who achieved six Grade 9-8/As, two Grade 7s/Bs, and one Grade 6.

Sunmarke School (pictured in our cover photo) revealed the results for its fifth cohort of students - 105 in 2021. Between them, these students were entered for 939 exams. 58% of all GCSE grades were Grades 9-7 (A*-A) whilst 80% of all GCSE grades were awarded a Grade 6 (B) or above. Overall, 36% of passes were at Grades 9-8, and 96% achieved Grades A*-C. 

Standout students included Yehia Elshafey and Iris Sklavounou who both achieved ten Grade 9 passes, Ismael Mujic and Zaynah Zahid who both were awarded nine Grade 9s and one Grade 8, Jasur Makhkamov who was awarded eight Grade 9s and three Grade 8s, Abdullah El Haddad, with eight Grade 9s and two Grade 8s and Livia Friis, with eight Grade 9s.

Next up, The English College, where 102 students were entered for 905 exams. Almost a quarter of entries were graded Grade 9 (22%), with almost four in ten (39%) graded  9-8/A*-A. 76% of entries were awarded Grades 9-6/A*-B and 95% achieved Grades 9-4.

Top results came from Mariam Yasser Elshaer with nine Grade 9s, Christia Baghdadlian with 8 Grade 9s and one Grade 8, Tia Eid with seven Grade 9s and one Grade 8, Eden Diriba who achieved 6 Grade 9s and three Grade 8s and Diya Praveen, who achieved six Grade 9s and three Grade 8s.

Hartland International School celebrated the results of its first cohort of GCSE students this year. There were 29 students in the cohort and a total of 237 grades were awarded.

35% of all grades were the highest at Grade 9 (A*) with 65% of all grades at 9–7 (A*/A) and 83% of all grades at 9-6 (A*/B).  Hartland students achieved 100% of grades awarded at 9-4, meaning a 100% pass rate.

Stand out achievements included Joe Hulme with 10 Grade 9’s, Peter White with 9 Grade 9’s and 1 Grade 7, Melina Garaud and Jana Khalifa with 9 Grade 9’s and Nandini Nambiar with 8 Grade 9’s and 2 Grade 8’s.

At GEMS Jumeirah College, a cohort of 160 students were entered for 1,459 exams. Over half of results were awarded Grade 9-8 (A*), whilst 81.2% achieved Grades 9-7 (A*-A). 97.1% of results were achieved at Grades 9-5 (A*-B) and at 99.4%, almost a full house of passes was registered for awards at Grades 9-4 (A*-C).  108 students achieved at least one Grade 9, whilst 148 students achieved one or more A* grade.

Outstanding results were achieved by Haizea Herrera with 9 Grade 9s and one A*, Sairam Ravi with 7 Grade 9s and three A*s, Dominika Pawlukojc with 7 Grade 9s, two Grade 8s and one A*, Dalia Petric who achieved 7 Grade 9s, two Grade 8s and one A*, and Raeyaan Bengali who was awarded six Grade 9s, two Grade 8s and two A*s.

The final school to release its results on IGCSE results day was the British International School Abu Dhabi. A cohort of 90 students and were entered for 780 exams.  Over three in 10 results (31%) were at Grade 9, 47% at Grades 9-8 (A*), and 62% at A*-A. 78% of all entries were awarded 9-6 (A*-B) grades and 94% 9-4 (A*-C). The overall student pass rate was 95% with 91% of students achieving five passes at grades 9-4 (A*-C) including English and Maths. 

Five students achieved perfect scores of 9 across the board.

At Nord Anglia International School Dubai, 48% of students achieved an A* or 8/9 and 97% 5 or above with a 100% pass rate. The school also revealed that 96 % of students have achieved at or above their CAT indicator, a value added test. 

There was a small but successful cohort of students at Star International School, Al Twar with 45% of entries achieving Grade 9-8 (A*) and a 100% pass rate.  

At British School Al Khubairat, this year's GCSE's students kept up the tradition of delivering to the school some of the best results in the capital. 25% of Grades were Grade 9, 43% Grades 8-9, 66% Grades 9-7 and 98% Grades 9-4, which means just 2% of exams taken resulted in a fail grade.

Not for profit Sharjah English School also celebrated strong results. A cohort of 49 students were entered for a total of 436 IGCSE and GCSE exams and achieved 34% of all entries with awards of Grade 9, 60% at Grades 9-8, 81% at Grades 9-7, 92% at Grades 9-6 (A*-B) and 99% at Grades 9 to 4. Every student who passed their exams achieved Grades 9 to 4 in a minimum of five subjects including English and Maths. This places Sharjah English School's students' achievement in the top three highest performing schools based on the percentage of grades awarded at Grades 9-8 (A*).

Table of results, A-Z

Table of results, Order by %Grade 9-8

What is the difference between IGCSE and GCSE?

Whilst IGCSE exams – as the name suggests – have a more international focus in terms of content (where relevant), GCSEs are the courses followed by students in the UK. UAE schools tend to offer IGCSE in the main, or with a limited number of GCSE, although schools that have more traditional ties with the UK generally offer more in the way of GCSEs.

How have exam results been awarded?

Explaining the award process, Cath Jadhav, Director of Standards and Comparability, said “In summer 2021, teachers will judge the standard that a student is working at, based on a range of evidence produced by that student over their course of study, and covering only the content they have been taught.

“Teachers will make the initial judgements and they will then be subject to internal quality assurance within the school/college, and grades will be signed off by the head of department and head of centre – usually the headteacher or principal – before they are submitted to exam boards.

“In simple terms, a GCSE student who is performing consistently at a grade 6 standard, should be awarded a grade 6. It should be no harder or easier to achieve a particular grade than it is in a normal year when examinations take place.”

Teachers will base their assessments on a range of evidence, including coursework and mock exams.

Ms Jadhav added: “We are asking teachers to take an evidence-based approach, so that students, their parents and carers, and all those who use the grades awarded this summer can see how their final grade has been arrived at and know that they have been determined objectively.”

Schools and colleges have been asked to judge the standard of students’ work against the standards set in previous years, to try to keep grades consistent year on year. However, with numerous assertions about grade inflation irrespective of Exam Board – with this year’s International Baccalaureate results and latterly, this week’s A Level results, showing clear evidence of the highest levels of awards ever – it can be reasonably expected that the same will be true for I/GCSE.

How much this matters, given that I/GCSE results are largely used internally for progression to post-16 education is a moot point. Many believe that this year’s students deserve recognition for the incredibly difficult two years that have passed with the pandemic causing wide disruption in terms of consistency of education.

Today’s results will therefore be a celebration of the ability of 15 and 16 year olds to cope with an unprecedented situation and they should and will be congratulated for their achievement.