GCSE results day: As it happens

Hello and welcome to our GCSE results day live blog. With pupils across England receiving their grades today (at time of writing on Thursday 21st August), we’re going to keep you up to date with how pupils on our sessions have got on in this live blog. In summary, this blog will take you through a celebration of pupils on our programmes as the day progresses, while sharing reflections of pupils – and those involved – on their GCSE English and maths study.

Live updates

5:45pm: And that’s a wrap! Thank you to everyone who has supported us this academic year and congratulations to each and every pupil up and down the country who has received their results today. Thank you for keeping up to date with results day via our blog too.

If you’d like to stay connected, or get involved – including finding out about our range of volunteering and fundraising opportunities – take a look at the links below.

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5:41pm: And our final post of the day is from Elliott, a pupil at Bramcote College, Nottingham. Defying his own expectations, Elliott, who is going on to study business, economics and politics at A-Level, was predicted a grade 4 in English and instead, achieved a seismic grade 7 on GCSE results day today. Incredible achievement!

Watch Elliott’s heart-warming endorsement of his tutor and reflections on his grades below.

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4:35pm: Returning to the national picture, statistics released by the Joint Council for Qualifications has highlighted the stark regional attainment gap divide between pupils in London and the South East, compared to those in the North East.

The figures published in The Guardian today highlight the number of pupils in England in 2025 who are likely to get top grades. See more in the graphic below.

4:20pm: Another King Ecgbert School pupil we’ve heard from today is Samira, who achieved a terrific grade 4 in maths. When asked what she’d say to her tutor, Kate, if she was her now, Samira said: “I’d give her a hug!”

“I couldn’t have achieved my results by myself. Having someone sat in front of me, breaking it all down, it’s much easier than watching videos to revise by myself.”

Samira – King Ecgbert School, Sheffield (a pupil on one of our tutoring programmes)

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4:15pm: Returning to Sheffield’s King Ecgbert School, here are some more reflections from pupils on our tutoring programmes who have received their GCSE results today.

This includes Ziya, who achieved a grade 4 in maths…

“My tutor, Cheong, has been one of the best tutors ever. Thank you Cheong.”

Ziya – King Ecgbert School, Sheffield (a pupil on one of our tutoring programmes)

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4:09pm: Welcome back to the GCSE results day 2025 live blog. Congratulations to Omar, who has completed one of our tutoring programmes as a pupil at North Birmingham Academy and achieved a brilliant grade 5 in English Language.

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1:05pm: We’re now pausing today’s updates. Please check back later today for more from GCSE results day 2025. Thank you for your support!

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12:59pm: We can now cross to King Ecgbert School, Sheffield, where Rupert says his tutor, Connor, is the other 50% of the equation in him securing a fantastic grade 7 in maths. Fantastic effort from Rupert, Connor and staff at King Ecgbert!

12:43pm: A check on the national picture now for GCSE results day, as the ‘regional (attainment) gap is ever present and stubbornly entrenched’, according to the CEO of the Sutton Trust via The Guardian today.

Quoted within the news outlet, Sutton Trust’s Nick Harrison has said ‘the results showed that regional differences in attainment had widened significantly since 2019 and with no signs of improving’.

With this in mind, if you’d like to help us at Action Tutoring in our mission of narrowing the attainment gap, find out more about volunteering on one of our programmes for 2025-2026 by clicking the button below.

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12:27pm: A headteacher at a school signed up to one of our tutoring programmes says 81% of pupils have achieved a grade 4 in GCSE English and maths, with thanks for this success including acknowledging those involved from Action Tutoring. You can watch Bramcote College’s Heidi Gale’s testimonial, below.

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11:43am: We now hear from Victoria, who hopes to pursue software development as a future career path. She reflects on the benefits of tutoring she’s received on one of our English programmes and explains why she’d recommend tutoring to other pupils facing disadvantage.

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11:18am: Time to hear now from Charlie, another pupil at Bramcote College, Nottingham, who achieved a grade 5 in maths after receiving tutoring on one of our programmes.

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10:51am: Crossing back to City Heights in Brixton, London, we’ve got some lovely feedback from pupils on our programmes and how Action Tutoring has helped them, below.

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10:24am: We’re now back at Bramcote College, Nottingham, where a parent of Miles, one of the pupils on our programme, is sharing her reflections on the Action Tutoring programme and her son’s results. Watch the video below to share the joy of the day.

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9:58am: Pupils at City Heights Academy in Brixton, London, have also given their thoughts on their Action Tutoring programme this results day. See Khalil and Said’s thoughts below…

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9:33am: Our first feedback from a parent of one of the pupils on our programmes at Bramcote College in Nottingham…

“Action Tutoring helped my son reach his true potential. Very supportive and encouraging.”

A parent of a pupil on our programmes at Bramcote College

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9:20am: Another (hopefully) interesting fact for you…did you know GCSEs are also taken outside of the UK?

GCSEs can also be taken in some schools in India, Canada and Australia. Today, we will of course be focusing on results for pupils at schools across England, with the first feedback from schools about to be shared with you…

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9:08am: As we await results, did you know…when GCSEs were first introduced?

Back in 1986 – the year of Top Gun, the introduction of Neighbours and that goal by Diego Maradona in the FIFA World Cup for Argentina – GCSEs were first taught in the classroom, where they replaced O Levels and CSEs.

GCSE – which stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education – exams were first taken in 1988, which was also the same year the 1988 Education Reform Act introduced a standardised national curriculum for state schools, which included four key stages. Hopefully these facts will serve you well in a pub quiz sometime soon!

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8:55am: Good morning this GCSE results day. According to The Guardian, ‘hundreds of thousands of pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland await grades’ today.

This includes pupils at schools on our Action Tutoring programmes across England. You can view a map below of programmes across the country and see where pupils facing disadvantage, will be receiving their results.

More broadly, our Action Tutoring team will be visiting schools across Birmingham, Bristol, London, Nottingham and Sheffield to check in with pupils on our programmes, so stay tuned on these live updates!

Thank you

Results day is a key date in the Action Tutoring academic year. For the pupils we support, it recognises their incredible achievements, as well as noting the work that’s still to be done.

In addition, thanks to our wonderful community – including volunteer tutors, schools and corporate partners, and people like you – this network has played a vital role in Year 11 pupils facing disadvantage securing their desired outcomes.

How to follow us

With this in mind, we want to keep you up to date with the day’s fantastic highlights. So stay tuned on this blog and on our social media channels, which you can follow, via the links below.

What’s happening

Thursday 21st August

• Our staff team will be checking in with schools and chatting to pupils about their reflections on their GCSE journey and what they’ve learnt since being enrolled with Action Tutoring.
• We will bring you highlights from schools across various locations including London, Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham and Sheffield.
• Highlights will include quotes, pictures and video reflections from our pupils and where possible, other important voices involved.
• Potentially, details will be shared on the broader picture for tutoring, disadvantage and outcomes nationally, including across our school network.

Last year’s results day: A few highlights

The wider challenge: Poverty and pandemic fallout

GCSE pupils on our programmes experiencing socio-economic disadvantage continue to face immense challenges, compounded by Covid’s lingering effects and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Read on below to understand the wider picture.

We are really proud of our pupils and how much everyone involved has contributed to a fantastic 2024-2-25 academic year.

So please join in the celebrations on Thursday 21st August, where we will take you through the day.

Thank you!