GCSE results day: What to do if you didn’t get the grades you wanted

There are many options available to you if you didn’t get the GCSE grades you were hoping for

Pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive their GCSE results today (PA) (PA Archive)

Pupils across the UK will be finding out their GCSE grades today as results day 2024 arrives. These grades will have an impact on what options are available to school leavers next, although all are required to stay in education for two more years.

It can be an emotional and stressful day, with some elated at acheiving the results they had hoped for, and others inevitably disappointed at their grades.

If you did not what you wanted at this GCSE results day, it’s important to know what choices are open to you. There are lots of things you can do, and lots of options to choose from.

Remember that your school, friends and family are all there to support and advise you as you decide your next step.

Here are all the options available to you if you haven’t got the GCSE grades you were hoping for:

If you want to study A-Levels or go to college

If you want to go on to sixth-form to study A-Levels or enrol on a college course but didn’t quite meet the entry requirements, there are a few things you can do.

Firstly, it’s worth talking to your school or college to see if they will be flexible with the entry requirements. Many will, especially if you only missed your target by a few marks or one grade.

For A-Levels, most schools require four GCSEs at grade C or above, including English and Maths, and often a higher grade in your chosen subjects. This will generally be quite similar for college courses, but they may be a bit more flexible.

However, some more selective institutions will ask for higher than this. If you were aiming to study at one of these but have not met the grade requirements, it’s worth looking around for the many great sixth-forms and colleges which will accept your grades.

For those who think they could acheive a better result on some or all of their exams, it is possible to resit them. For all subjects except English and Maths, this will need to be done during next years’ exam period. If you do not acheive a grade 4 in Maths or English, you will need to resit them until you have passed both or you turn 18.

You can speak to your school or college to arrange this, and they may allow you to progress to A-Levels or a course while you prepare to resit some GCSEs. For the most part, these resits will be offered for free, but could cost around £30 per resit depending on your school.

You can also ask your school to submit any of your exam papers for a remark if you feel the grade is not accurate. However, grades can go up as well as down, and this may also incur a cost.

If you want to consider other options

If you’ve decided studying A-Levels or going to college isn’t for you, there are several other options available. You may want to consider a T-Level or vocational technical qualification (VTQ), which are more career-focused options.

These qualifications generally have different entry requirements to A-Levels, and will be centred around key skills that will be useful for a future career. They are an especially good choice for those who those who have a good idea of what job they’d like to do in the future.

Another choice could be to undertake an apprenticeship, which gives you paid on-the-job experience while you receive training at a university or college.

There are over 670 apprenticeships available in a wide variety of roles. The government has a handy tool that allows you to search through what’s available, marking out ‘career starter apprenticeships’ as good first jobs.

Entry requirements for apprentices vary depending on the provider. Many will allow you to join without a pass in English and Maths, and can offer support as you work to pass these.

You can also work or volunteer whilst studying part-time. Many colleges offer qualifications that are offerered part-time, so it’s worth seeing what is available.

If you are still unsure of what you want to do, you can speak to your school, college, or an NCS career advisor about what options are available to you. The breadth of options means there’s very likely to be something available to you that you will find rewarding, so it might just take someone pointing you in the right direction.