GCSE Results: Lincoln Samaritans says there's a rise in calls at this time of year anecdotally

Students across the country will receive their GCSE results this morning, and grades are expected to be lower than the record highs in 2021, resulting in the risk of many pupils disappointed with their grades. Samaritans have also said, because of stress and anxiety, there is a rise in the amount of calls anecdotally at this time of year.

Thousand of pupils will find out their GCSE results today…

But grades are expected to fall compared to record highs in 2021, and similar to the pattern of A- Level results, they are expected to remain above those in 2019.

This is also the first time that exams have been taken since the pandemic.

Sam is the Director of Lincoln Samaritans, and has this advice:

"Talk to someone- don't keep it bottled up, don't worry, don't be anxious about it.

"Get out there, and talk to someone whether that's your family, whether that's your friends, whether that's the support that may well be in your schools, or your universities or colleges. You know, make sure that you are using all those resources out there to try and support you and enable you to look at your future.

"If things have gone badly at the moment, you certainly won't be the only one, so get out there and talk to someone about it if you can."

READ MORE: Young people across Lincolnshire and Newark collect GCSE results

Sam continued to say, that it is a difficult time for the young people, parents and carers. Samaritans, as a whole, everyday, takes around 10,000 calls for different reasons.

"Anecdotally in our area we do see a slight increase in calls from younger people; that's obviously children getting their GCSE results, young people getting A-Levels results, and also older people, who are going to university, and are concerned about new life, meeting new people and all those kind of adventures, but it is a little bit daunting sometimes.

"So, as I say, anecdotally we do see a slight rise at this time of year."

Last year, the proportion of GCSE entries awarded top grade surged to an all-time high, as exams were cancelled for the second year in a row due to Covid- 19, and students were instead given results determined by their teachers.

Overall, 28.9% of UK GCSE entries were awarded one of the top grades, up by 2.7 percentage points on 2020.

In 2019, when exams were last held, only 20.8% of entries achieved at least a seven or an A grade.

While traditional A*-G grades are still used in Northern Ireland and Wales, in England these have been replaced with a 9–1 system, where nine is the highest grade. A four is broadly equivalent to a C grade, and a seven is broadly equivalent to an A.

Alongside the concern that pupils will be disappointed with their grades this year, the Headteacher's Union has urged people not to 'rush to judgements' over schools' overall grades.

The Association of School and College Leaders said results out this week are likely to be "uneven" across different schools and areas, and reflect the "turbulent circumstances" of the pandemic.

The General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, Geoff Barton, is appealing to the schools watchdog Ofsted, to bear these factors in mind.

READ MORE: Record high for A-level grades as students pick up results

Furthermore, it has been suggested that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are more than twice as likely as their wealthier peers to not be in a sustained work or education five years after their GCSE's.

The so-called destinations gap grows significantly in the years after students sit those exams, education charity Teacher First have said.

Teach First said that Department for Education data - which is for England only - showed that a year after taking GCSEs, almost 12% of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are not in any form of sustained education, apprenticeship or employment destination, compared to almost 4% of non-disadvantaged pupils.

It's also been determined that in the academic year of 2019/ 2020, those from non- disadvantaged backgrounds are more than three times as likely to go to university than they are to end up out of sustained work or education. Compared to just 27% of disadvantaged groups that go on to higher education.