GCSE results day to change for thousands of students with new app

Tens of thousands of GCSE students will get their grades in an app on their phones on results day this summer.

The government is trialling the Education Record app with 95,000 students in Manchester and the West Midlands, ahead of a national rollout.

Ministers say they hope it will save money for college admissions teams, while school leaders say students and schools will need "seamless support" to ensure the app works properly.

Students involved in the pilot will still be able to go to school to get their paper results and do the traditional opening of the envelope on results day in August.

Under the plans, students' results will be made available on the app at 11:00 on results day, which is Thursday 21 August.

Students collecting their results in person can do so from 08:00.

In Scotland, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has enabled students to get their results in an online app since 2019. In Wales and Northern Ireland, results are usually distributed by schools and colleges.

This year's first GCSE exams began on Monday 5 May in England, and will last until Wednesday 25 June.

The government's plan is to bring each student's exam results and certificates into one online set of digital education records.

Students who are under 18 after finishing their GCSEs have to stay in full-time education, start an apprenticeship or work while studying part-time.

The government says the new app will mean further education colleges no longer have to hire extra staff to photocopy results or chase missing paperwork from prospective students.

Education minister Stephen Morgan said it was "high time exam records were brought into the 21st century" and that it would stop schools and colleges being "bogged down in bureaucracy".

Mark Giles, principal at The Hathershaw College in Oldham, said the app was "accurate and verifiable" after conducting a local trial at his school since last spring.

Other school leaders have welcomed the pilot. James Bowen, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said his union was "pleased the app is being piloted".

"It makes a lot of sense to look into modernising how exam results are handled and any moves to cut bureaucracy and costs are welcome," he said.

But he said it would be important that the app's rollout is done carefully, with "seamless support" for students and schools if issues arise.

"When we are dealing with something as important as exam results it is crucial that the government gets this absolutely right," he said.

Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) also welcomed the move, and called for the use of digital technology in education to go even further.

He said the digital approach should be extended to exams themselves, which are still done using pen and paper and can create a "massive burden" for schools who are required to securely transport thousands of exam papers.

He said the development of education technology had so far been "frustratingly piecemeal", adding that the government should "invest in creating the infrastructure schools and colleges need to make this a reality".

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