It's really not the end of the world if
things haven't gone to plan today and
there's always options.
>> Yeah, there definitely are. Um, so Erin,
any advice for students because it might
feel quite overwhelming suddenly you
kind of you've been studying for, you
know, three years and and then you kind
of leads up everything leads up to
today, but it it really isn't, you know,
nothing to kind of worry too much about
if things haven't quite gone to plan.
>> Yeah, it's it's never going to be the be
all and end all. Of course, if you're
sitting there looking at your results
and they you don't feel like that's
reflected all of the effort that you put
in, that can feel quite upsetting. And
sometimes then the worst thing is for
everyone around you to say, "Oh, it
doesn't matter." But equally, that is a
great opportunity for you to sit and
reflect and have a think about, okay,
what can I change moving forward?
>> And um there are plenty of options as
well. Uh if uh you don't think that the
results quite right, um you can of
course appeal what's going on. Um,
here's Sam with a little bit more about
what you can do.
>> Can you challenge your GCSE results?
It's results day. You may have just
opened your grades and they're really
not what you were expecting. Don't panic
just yet. You may be able to challenge
them. You can request a copy of your
exam paper or sort a review of marking.
Requesting the paper allows a teacher to
take a look over the marking and then
you can decide if you want a review. A
review of marking means another examiner
checks your paper. The mark can go up,
but it also could go down or stay the
same. Your school can request this for
you once you've given your consent.
Remember, you only have a limited time
frame to request this, and this year's
requests must be made by the 25th of
September. Priority review takes about
15 days, but a normal review can take
around 20. Plus, you do have to pay
depending on the exam board. So, check
the price when you submit for a review
as you might have to cover this. There
are ways to escalate the process further
if you're still not happy with the
results, but it's best to talk to your
school about what the best way forward
may be. So, if your results really
aren't what you expected, act quickly,
speak to your school, and make sure you
don't miss the deadlines.
>> Let's check back in with Lewis. Lewis,
you're with a politician in charge of
schools in England. What is the reaction
from the government?
>> Yes, I'm with a politician in charge of
schools. I'm with Minister Katherine
McKinnel who is in charge of GCSEs. Um
so how have how has the country
performed in the GCSEs this year?
>> Well I say there's an amazing atmosphere
here at St. Beads this morning. It's
really exciting for people to get their
grades see how they've done and really
though most most importantly think about
what springboard that is to what comes
next. So I think however it's gone for
people this really is a springboard to
apprenticeships to A levels to T- levels
or vocational qualifications whatever it
is. It's great to see all this children
and young people here talking to their
teachers about what they're going to do
next. It's really exciting for the
future.
>> And do we know how hard it is for the
for students to get to that next stage
of the of of education? What I mean is
how well has the country done across the
board, the northeast, London, uh working
class kids, uh middle- class kids, what
what what have you seen in the results?
>> So, we've been seen this year it's
pretty steady compared to last year,
which is really reassuring cuz as a
country, and young people will know
this, we've been through quite a
difficult time with the pandemic, post
pandemic, everyone having to catch up
and recover from what was a really big
national challenge. So to see it another
year return to what looks more like the
new normal um is really welcome and I
think that the young people will have
done really well and be pleased about
what they do next. But actually if it
hasn't gone to plan as well I think
equally important that you take that
opportunity to get advice speak to your
teachers because there are opportunities
available for everybody and we need to
make sure as many young people as
possible grab them with both hands. Uh,
like I said, this this year group was
affected by CO. They were the first they
were the the last group in secondary
school to be hit by lockdowns. Have they
got back up to their levels that they
were at before lockdown?
>> Yes, that's what we're seeing. So, this
cohort are the ones that were just
leaving primary school, moving into
secondary as the um COVID pandemic hit.
So, they really missed out on a key
transition time. But I know the schools
have worked really hard to make sure
that that has not impacted their
learning. It hasn't happened by chance.
I think the young people have worked
hard. I think the families have
supported them. I think the schools and
the teachers have really worked hard and
we're seeing the results today, which is
really reassuring. But let's not forget
though that there are still some really
entrenched inequalities and unfairness
of the system. People that aren't
getting the results and the outcomes
from school that they should. And as a
government, that's what we're really
focused on as well. making sure that
those um four out of five young people
of uh working white class um also those
with special educational needs and
disabilities just not getting their mass
in English and meaning that they can't
then go on to maybe do what it is they
would want to do. We really want to
unlock those opportunities as well and
we're working hard to do that.
>> Yeah. I wanted to ask you about white
working-class kids because the the
education secretary has been making a
big deal of how they are underachieving.
What are you doing to make sure that you
bring everyone up to the same level? So,
we're seeing the green shoots of what
we're already doing, but we will be
doing more. We're bringing out a a white
paper that's like a government paper of
what we're going to do in the autumn,
but it starts with the early years,
getting the best start in life, making
sure there's support for families in in
communities. It means free breakfast
clubs for children to get that really
good start to the day. It means more
free school meals for families on
universal credit. It means more teachers
in the classroom. We're we're seeing
more teachers recruited, more teachers
retained, which is really excellent. And
we're seeing more days at school. So 5
million more days young people have been
at school compared to last year. That
means if you're in school, you can get
your education. You can't if you're not.
So we're really focused on making school
a place that children and young people
want to be in and can get the learning
that they deserve.
>> You brought me on to my next question
there, which is school attendance has is
it's still really low since the
pandemic. what you do to make sure kids
are back in school.
>> So, attendance is a real challenge and
if you're not in school, you can't
benefit from the great education that we
want every young person to get. So,
we've got really targeted approaches
working with schools who have really
particular challenges to support them uh
with attendance and behavior hubs, but
also putting mental health support for
young people, making sure they have
access to that in schools. I think the
the free school meal expansion will go a
long way because we know that uh young
people and families have been really
struggling with the cost of living.
Reducing the cost of school uniform. I
mean it seems like a simple thing but
you know if you haven't got the right
school uniform that can put you off
getting into school. We want to bring
those costs down. Put money back into
parents pockets and make sure all that
support can go to children and young
people from their families from their
school to really get to school and get
out of school what they deserve. Le
let's talk a little bit about the the
next steps what these kids will be able
to take. They've just finished the
GCSEs. What are the options? I I read
the other day there's a new civil
service uh offer where school levers can
join and try and get into the
government. What's that?
>> Yeah. Get the fasttrack civil service
that's got to be um prioritized for
working-class young people. Um I mean
the opportunities being talked about
here today fantastic T levels in health
in engineering and that there are
apprenticeships available. It's really
good that the schools have really strong
links with businesses in the local area
to make sure that both the schools are
providing the young people with the
skills the businesses need, but
obviously it's unlocking those
opportunities for the young people as
well. And then I've spoken to some
fantastic students as well that are
going on to do A levels um and you know
they aspire to get to university. I
think whatever it is that a young person
wants to do, we want to make sure those
opportunities are available for them.
We'll let you go in a sec, but can you
remember how you did in your GCSEs?
>> So, I um I was a bit of a late bloomer
at school. I loved all the sport and the
art and the drama, but I genuinely
believe that's what what's unlocked my
learning for me. And in the end, I did
quite well. I got A's and B's and I
remember being quite shocked because I
didn't think of myself as particularly
academic. But I do think that as long as
you have a really enjoyable time at
school, I think that's really important
to doing well at school. And that's what
we really want to deliver for children
and young people.
>> And now you're a government minister.
What what what path did you take to get
to where you are now?
>> So I actually went to university. I
studied history and politics. I loved
it. And then I did law because I wanted
to come back to Newcastle in the
Northeast and a lot of the jobs in
politics were in London, but I loved the
Northeast. So I chose to become a a
lawyer and then I got involved locally
in politics and that's how I ended up
eventually becoming the first female
member of parliament for Newcastle
North. Oh
>> well well done. Hopefully you can
inspire all of these these kids behind
us.