Students across the Midlands collect their GCSE results

Thousands of students across the Midlands have been collecting their GCSE results.

After months of wondering, the wait was finally over as many teenagers picked up their envelopes and found out how they had got on during their exams and studies.

It's been a tough ride for this age-group - they were in Year 7 when coronavirus struck.

More than a hundred students picked up their results at Nottingham University Academy of Science and Technology.The school in Dunkirk in Nottingham specialises in maths, science and engineering.

Defne was getting her GCSE grades just a week after her brother got his A-levels.

She said: "I think they are good. I thought some of them would have been better, but I think I'm proud of myself.

Another student at the site said they hadn't slept at all the night before results day, but said the suspense was worth it.

In the West Midlands 18.5% of papers got a top grade of 7 to 9. That's slightly up on last year, but still higher than in 2019.

In the East Midlands 18.3% of papers got a top grade of 7 to 9, slightly down on last year, but the same as in 2019.

The class of 2024 have had a lot to contend with, their first two years of school were spent at the height of the pandemic.

One of the students said "There has been a lot of interruptions but we did get through it."

Dave Thompson, headteacher of Nottingham University Academy of Science and Technology, said:

"The last few years has been pretty difficult for students and getting them to catch up on the work they missed during the pandemic its been really difficult.

"But they've worked together, with the staff, each other, they've had the support of their parents and as you can see it's paid off, they've done really well."

Never too late

It's not just been about the youngsters though.

Gianluca Capelli, 53, a civil engineer from Leicester, was inspired by his wife to change career and become a primary school teacher, but needed a GCSE in English.

He has now passed and can start his teacher training.

He said “I hope to discover that I can make a difference, help pupils develop crucial skills for their lives, and enjoy maths - especially young people who need it to enter new careers.

"The process is overwhelming but help is out there for career changers like me and do block out the doubters, trust your instincts.”

'Success and support'

Back to the schools - in Wolverhampton, Adeeba Iqbal was so nervous she got her brother to open her results, but she didn't need to worry.

She got an eight in maths, that's equivalent to an A.

And the good news kept coming, as Dennis Hamilton was in the top five best results at St Regis Church of England Academy in Tettenhall.

Ed Parry, principle of St Regis Church of England Academy, said: "We recognise that this is always a stressful day for year elevens.

"They worked incredibly hard for their summer GCSE exams, and they've been waiting for today to come around to find out how they got on.

"We're here to kind of celebrate those successes with our students, but also support those students that maybe haven't got the grades that they were hoping for.

"We've tried to make it a really relaxed celebratory feel here at the school, lots of staff here to support we have NHS mental health services here.

"We have some colleges on site to support us. We've also got our director of sixth form here to speak to our students who maybe don't feel they got the grades that they needed, reassure them that we can support them with those next steps."

What do the number grades mean?

According to GOV.UK, the grades are ranked from 1, the lowest, to 9, the highest.

The bottom of grade 7 is aligned with the bottom of grade A, while the bottom of grade 4 is aligned to the bottom of grade C.

Meanwhile, the bottom of grade 1 is aligned to the bottom of grade G.

The shift to the numerical grading system was introduced in England in 2017 firstly in English language, English literature, and maths.

By 2020 all subjects were shifted to number grades. This means anyone with GCSE results from 2017-2020 will have a combination of both letters and numbers.

The numerical grading system was to signal more challenging GCSEs and to better differentiate between students’ abilities - particularly at higher grades between the A*-C grades.

There only used to be 4 grades between A* and C, now with the numerical grading scale there are 6.