New GCSE grade 9 vs A/A* etc

[crumpet]

Grade 9 is supposed to be the equivalent to an A*, with Grade 8 being the “old” A, and Grade 7 equivalent to an A.

I can’t help feeling that this isn’t how it will ultimately play out in practice, and that fairly quickly the 9 will be treated as an A*, meaning that a 7 will be treated as a B rather than an A. Am I being unduly pessimistic?

I am old, miserable and I hate change

Me too!

I want to go back to the days when A was the top grade (not A**) and only a handful of weirdos pupils got 8 or 9 A grades at O level GCSE.