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Original poster

Do grade 9s matter that much?

61 replies

AGoodDayToday · 10/10/2025 15:09

Hi,

My 15 year old son is home schooling with council funding, because he was struggling with epic anxiety after being at an ultra competitive state secondary school.

He's highly academic and getting very high grades in past papers, but he constantly worries about how he will guarantee a grade 9 in the actual exam.

It seems that when he was at school, the school were very focussed on the importance of getting a grade 9 in everything, and that my son received the message that an 8 or 7 was really not okay. I asked his school friends and they confirmed that the pressure was intense, and he was not mistaken about that.

Also I know that the school routinely gets 20% of all their GCSE exams coming out at grade 9 whereas the national average is about 20% of GCSEs being awarded at grade 7-9. So I think the pressure was very real.

I wondered if anyone could help me figure out how to reframe the GCSE discussion in a more healthy way, so he can be excited about aiming for a 7 and know that that is actually a really good grade?

I know a 7 is the same as an old A grade, and I got As and Bs and ended up with a first class honours degree and a PhD, so I really think that a 7 is probably okay.

DS doesn't need or want to get into Oxford or Cambridge. He's said repeatedly that he would be happy with an apprenticeship even, but he just can't shake the message that he's received from the school that he has no value in life if he doesn't get 9s.

FWIW, at 15 he is also operating at high A level standard in computer science and was already getting a grade 6 in maths GCSE past papers at age 13.

He's a good lad, and will be an asset to someone in their organisation with his abilities, but I need to callm him down a bit and show him that it's okay to be a regular human and not an exam-sitting machine.

I would be really grateful for any thoughts on this.

Thanks!

OP posts:
Original poster
AGoodDayToday · 10/10/2025 16:09

ConBatulations · 10/10/2025 16:08

The exam boards all publish numbers getting each grade for each subject as well as grade boundaries. Ofqual analytics have all sorts of statistics.

Very few students get straight grade 9s or even straight grades 7-9. There were numbers published around results day.

Thanks, I'll have a look.

OP posts:
Original poster
AGoodDayToday · 10/10/2025 16:08

I read up and found out that some people even do really well from doing A levels when they are older, like 22 years old. I noticed that at a lot of private schools here, the kids are a year or more older than the kids in the state school. But it's hard to get him to internalise that message, when he's had the state school message forced so hard on him.

OP posts:
ConBatulations · 10/10/2025 16:08

The exam boards all publish numbers getting each grade for each subject as well as grade boundaries. Ofqual analytics have all sorts of statistics.

Very few students get straight grade 9s or even straight grades 7-9. There were numbers published around results day.

Original poster
AGoodDayToday · 10/10/2025 16:06

Yes we looked, and the russell group universities seem to want an A in A level maths and AAB overall. They don't care about GCSEs at all.

I think his worry is that if GCSEs are this bad, then A levels must be even worse.

I know that an A in A level maths generally follows an 8 at GCSE, which is a bit easier then a 9, but I can't seem to get rid of the "must get a 9" mentality.

I don't know how to help him forget his school experience and just enjoy the love of the subjects. I loved learning at school, and the whole experience seems to be tainted for him now because the school was so anxious about progress 8 and ofsted.

OP posts:
Lieinrequired · 10/10/2025 16:05

You could also try looking at entrance requirements for some universities (obviously not Oxbridge). Pick a course that might interest your son and look at a few places. The vast majority do not distinguish between 8s and 9s.

Clearinguptheclutter · 10/10/2025 16:01

I would be very very surprised if any place, anytime, asks for 9s. Some sixth forms may ask for 7s to do a-level. Bonkers to put them under so much pressure.

VikaOlson · 10/10/2025 16:00

Is he doing open days at the moment for colleges and sixth forms? Maybe actually look at the courses he's interested in and see what the requirements are.
I'd be surprised if many ask for 7s let alone 9s.

Original poster
AGoodDayToday · 10/10/2025 16:00

@TeenToTwenties Thanks, do you know where I could find the stats on how many GCSEs are awarded 9s? I can't actually find that stat anywhere at all except in our one school.

It seems as though literally no one else actuall cares who gets 9s and only the 7-9 bracket actually matters.

OP posts:
VikaOlson · 10/10/2025 15:58

After results day, no one in life is ever going to give a fuck again that he has a 9 or not. It probably won't even come up in conversation again.

TeenToTwenties · 10/10/2025 15:56

You could start by showing him the stats on how many get 9s and ask whether he thinks 90% of people go on to be failures.

You could show him what he needs to progress to A levels.

I don't think 9s are of any use except bragging rights for parents and schools, and adding stress to kids.

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