Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the preparedness of schools for the new numerical GCSE grading system.

Ofqual’s Perceptions Survey published in June 2016, shows 93% of teachers are aware of the new GCSE grading system. The Department continues to work closely with Ofqual, the exam boards and key sector bodies to communicate to key audiences the changes to GCSEs, including the new 9-1 grading scale.

The National Foundation for Educational Research conducted its Teacher Voice survey in November 2015. It found that around 85% of school leaders said that the start of teaching for new GCSEs in English language, English literature and mathematics – the first to be examined this year - had gone well.