The numerical grading scheme was launched as a part of a 2014 curriculum overhaul by then-education secretary, Michael Gove.
It put much less emphasis on GCSE coursework than earlier than, with grades in nearly all topics determined in last exams.
The {qualifications} had been designed to be tougher, with exams taken after two years of research. Previously pupils lined the syllabus via a collection of modules with common assessments all through the course.
At the time of the modifications, the federal government argued that, exterior the brand new scale “recognises more clearly the achievements of high-attaining students, as the additional grades allow for greater differentiation”.
It additionally stated that the transfer from letters to numbers would make it clear – for instance to an employer – “whether a student has taken a new, more challenging GCSE, or an old reformed GCSE”.