Concern over GCSE English grades as pupils get results

Pupils sitting an exam Credit: Press Association

Some pupils waiting for their English GCSE results this morning are being warned their papers may have been downgraded from what they were expecting.

Teachers say the exams have been marked too harshly meaning an increase in the number of fails.

The particular problem appears to be among pupils expecting C grades. They may instead end up with a D.

600,000 teenagers will get their GCSE results today Credit: Press Association

Commenting on the website of the Times Educational Supplement, one teacher said the score out of 80 needed to get a C grade was now a whole 10 marks higher than earlier in the year, adding:

Another teacher added:

And another wrote:

In June it was reported that GCSEs were set to be scrapped and replaced by new, more rigorous O-levels.