Considering GCSE and A-Level Results

 

UK, A-Level results will be released on Thursday, 13 August 2026, while GCSE results will follow a week later on Thursday, 20 August.

This will have been a long wait for students, their parents and their teachers. Having finished all public examinations back in June, everyone is curious to know how successful (or otherwise) their efforts have been. That curiosity depends greatly on the type of exam taken and what the results mean for the future.

Most A-Level students will probably be looking to get good enough grades to enter university. Earlier in the year, when completing their UCAS application forms, teachers will have entered what are known as predicted grades. I recall when I was running an A-Level college, that my colleagues and I often dreaded this time of the year. This was because some parents had unrealistic expectations for their sons and daughters. Offers from universities are made on the basis of teachers’ predicted grades (along with previous GCSE results and the personal statements of students themselves). In the college, when predicted grades were first announced, we braced ourselves for parental complaints. Typically, I would be confronted by Mum, Dad or maybe both, who’d say something like: “My son/daughter wants to get into Imperial and they’ve demanded three A-stars, but the predicted grades are three A’s. Can you please change the prediction?”

I would say, as diplomatically as I could, that three A’s would be fine for many universities, but leaving that to one side for a moment, consider our position. Universities expect schools to be accurate when it comes to predicted grades. Inflating them doesn’t help anyone. The student is unlikely to achieve the higher ones (since teachers know their students well, and are likely to have given a true and honest assessment). Furthermore, if a school gets the reputation of hyping grades, universities will be less likely to trust them in future and that will have a knock-on effect for students next year and beyond.

Of course, accurate prediction of grades is not foolproof and occasionally students confound a school’s expectations. In our case, if a student did better than expected, I would have to face an aggrieved parent. Far more often, however, students achieved exactly what was predicted, or fell short. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I never had a visit from parents of these young people saying how accurate my teachers had been.

Things are a little simpler with GCSE results. For students who are intending to further their studies and embark on an A-Level programme, the more GCSE passes they achieve, particularly in strong grades, the wider their range of A-Level or college options is likely to be. Those choices, in turn, can have an important influence on future university applications. The level of pass at GCSE is less important than actually passing. Sure, a high grade pass will help, but it’s surprising how little universities take that into consideration. A student with seven or eight passes at GCSE with average grades is likely to be preferred over a student with five or six top grade results.

The other important consideration for the future is exactly what GCSE subjects the student has passed. Having eight subjects but with a key one missing (usually English or Maths) will mean there’s very little chance of university acceptance. Even those students leaving school at 16 will need English and Maths to stand any chance of a decent job or training position. This year, one of my students told me he wanted to take an apprenticeship after leaving school at the end of the year, and had been offered two. The condition of both was that he passed GCSE in English and Maths. I can’t speak for the Maths, but I’m quietly confident he’ll pass English comfortably.

Now we come to the question of whether to re-sit any GCSEs that you haven’t managed to pass. My answer is that it depends. If one (or both) of these subjects are English and Maths, then yes, you should have another go. If you have enough GCSE’s to start A-Level, then most schools will allow you to re-sit an important one again, usually in November. Similarly if you have been allowed to start A-Levels but only have the bare minimum of GCSEs, the case for re-sitting one or two that you did unexpectedly badly in, is a strong one. If you have English and Maths and at least four other GCSE passes, then I would say forget re-sits. They may well interfere with your A-Levels and the actual benefit (assuming you pass) would hardly be worth it.

Let’s now consider AS examinations. Advanced Subsidiary Levels were officially introduced in the United Kingdom in the year 2000 as part of the "Curriculum 2000" reforms. They were meant as a kind of ‘halfway house’ between GCSE and A-Level. In 2017, they were downgraded and no longer form a mandatory requirement of the first year of an A-Level course. However, they are still often used, existing as a standalone qualification which has value to employers, and indeed universities. In my last position, AS exams were considered a very useful extra guide for teachers when preparing their predicted grades. Traditionally, most students take three subjects for A-Level (sometimes four) while five is the norm for AS. Again, from experience, I’ve found AS a useful step before committing to the three specialist subjects at A-Level. If your school offers AS-Level as an option, they are worth your consideration. Moreover, AS Levels are worth UCAS points. Each one is worth exactly 40% of a full A-Level. For example, an AS Level 'A' grade gives you 20 UCAS points, whereas an 'A' at full A-Level is worth 48 points.
This is a challenging time for all students and their parents. Possible career directions may be determined according to the decisions taken after GCSE or when considering AS or A-Level subject choices, and this is where I’d like to make a personal comment – or rather, a plea.

There have been many occasions when a student and his or her parents have been sat in my office discussing the young person’s future. When I start by asking if there are preferences held already, I am always dismayed when a father (and I’m sorry to sound sexist, but it usually is a father) ignores his child, looks directly at me and says: “I want my son to be a doctor / engineer / lawyer / banker,” etc. I then look at the student and respond by asking: “But is this what you want to do?” I have even, on occasion, when the father has given me a particularly dogmatic statement, replied by saying: “Yes, I understand what you want, but I’m actually interested in what your son wants.”

We all have ambitions for our children. We all want them to do well in life and be fulfilled, successful and happy. What we can’t do is live their lives vicariously for them, and I’d like to end with a cautionary tale.

There was once a young female student in the school I ran who had dreams of being a singer and dancer. Her mother, a divorcee, had other ideas. She wanted her daughter to follow a career in science, for which the child had no interest whatsoever. She was phenomenally lucky to win a full scholarship to a prestigious Arts Academy in the USA. Her happiness was short lived when her mother refused to let her go. The girl did extremely badly in her A-Levels and left school with no qualifications at all.

Now, I’m not for one moment suggesting that had this young lady been free to go to the States, she would have become a superstar. The odds against success in the performing arts are appallingly low. But she had a dream and that dream was crushed. Please allow your children to follow their hearts. They will make mistakes along the way – we all do – but we must give them the opportunity to discover just how far their talents and determination can take them.

 

About the Author

Paul Rogers is a former College Principal, teacher trainer and IELTS examiner with more than forty years of experience in education. He provides online tuition in GCSE English, A Level English Literature, IB English and IELTS preparation.