'No rifling through drawers for crumpled certificates': Tyne and Wear GCSE results to be made available on app
All year 11 students will be able to view their GCSE results on their phones for the first time this summer.
The Government is fully rolling out an “Education Record” app which will allow students to access their grades digitally on results day and for the rest of their lives, for easy use when providing results for job interviews and more.
Students will still go into school on results day to get their grades and meet teachers, with their grades available on the app later in the day. The Department for Education has estimated once the app is fully up and running it will save schools and colleges up to £30 million a year in administrative costs.
The app had originally been piloted in the West Midlands and Greater Manchester for some year 11s getting their results in 2025. The app will also include other information about students, such as whether they have special educational needs and disabilities (Send), or qualify for free school meals.
When students go on to enrol at college, they will be able to scan a QR code to share their information with the college automatically. Skills minister Baroness Jacqui Smith said: “No student should have to rifle through drawers looking for a crumpled certificate when they’re preparing for a job interview.
“This app will give young people instant access to their results whenever they need them while freeing up teachers and college staff from unnecessary paperwork.”
The Government is encouraging schools and colleges to sign up so their pupils can download the app and set it up before the summer results day. Cath Sezen, director of education policy at the Association of Colleges, said that colleges will be able to make student transitions easier with easy access to this data.
It will also cut down on admin time when students are enrolling for post-16 study, she added. General secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT Paul Whiteman said the app’s potential to include post-16 qualifications will make it useful to support young people as they move on to further education and employment after school or college.
The announcement comes after exams regulator Ofqual kickstarted the process for some exams moving onscreen in future. Under the watchdog’s proposals, up to eight GCSE or A-level exams could be taken digitally from around 2030.