New GCSE grading system is ‘gibberish’ and will lose teenagers future jobs, experts warn

Teenagers are set to miss out on jobs because firms can’t understand the new “gibberish” GCSE grading system, business leaders have warned.

Business leaders have warned that employers will favour job candidates with old-style letter grades instead of the new numbered scoring system.

A survey of mums and dads found parents have been left baffled with the new grading system.

Under the shake-up, A*-G grades will be replaced with a 9-1 mark, with 9 being the highest.

The first to move over is English and maths, with other subjects following over the next two years.

The move has been introduced in a bid to allow more differentiation between students, particularly among the brightest.

A survey by Mumsnet and Times Educational Supplement (TES) indicates a third of parents with a child of school age are still unaware of the new system.

There was also confusion over what would be seen as a “good” pass - currently a C or higher is considered good, and under the new system a 4 will be broadly equivalent to a high C grade.

Those with children in secondary school, 26% thought that a 4 would represent a pass under the new system.

Seamus Nevin, of The Institute of Directors, said firms may only know that GCSE grades have changed once they begin receiving CVs from pupils with the new results.

He warned: “They might think, ‘What is this gibberish and what does it mean and how has it changed from previous grading systems?”’, he told the TES.

It came as a record number of A level students gained a university place in clearing as an unprecedented choice of courses were on offer.

Universities have responded with a fierce battle to attract students.

Top institutions - including King’s College London and UCL - have deployed aggressive adverts on Facebook to target potential students to fill their £9,000 a year spaces.