GCSE results are released on Thursday 21 August 2025. You can ask your school for the exact time you can collect them. Schools can release results to students from 8am, but many open a bit later than that. 

Ahead of results day, it's a good idea to do a quick bit of prep. Here's our advice, including how to get hold of your results and how to prepare for any outcome.

Most people go to school in person to collect their results. If that's tricky for any reason, you might be able to arrange to have them sent to you in the post or via email. 

The benefit of collecting your results from school is that you can get advice from your teachers if you need it.

There could also be a photographer from the local newspaper getting snaps of celebrating students. If you're camera shy, you might want to avoid the hustle and bustle. If not, go and get your face in the paper!

This summer, tens of thousands of students can get their grades through an app on GCSE results day.

The government is trialling the Education Record app with 95,000 students in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. If it works well, the app will be rolled out nationally for future results days.

Students involved in the pilot scheme will be able to access their results on the app from 11am on GCSE results day.

If you're not involved in the app trial, you'll need to collect your results from school as usual. And, even if you are in the pilot scheme, you might still choose to go into school to get your results, to benefit from the support of your teachers and friends on the day.

When you open your results, GCSE English and GCSE Maths are the key qualifications to look out for. In the GCSE number grading system a 4 is likely to be requested as a minimum by schools and colleges if you want to move on to study at a higher level. 

If you miss your college requirements (especially if it's by a narrow margin) the first thing to do is to speak to the head of the sixth form or college you've applied for.

You might want to consider applying for a review of marking, otherwise most schools and colleges will require you to resit your exams alongside your post-16 studies.

Most schools and colleges will offer classes to prepare you to retake these GCSEs or they will offer alternative courses. 

People often find there are one or two subjects where their GCSE grades have slipped a little. If that happens to you, try to focus on the positive grades you've got. English and maths aside, having one or two lower GCSE grades is unlikely to restrict you in the future.

You shouldn't worry if you perform below your expectations overall. As long as you get into the courses and sixth form of your choice, you're all good!

Retaking exams or getting your paper reviewed are two ways to potentially improve a GCSE grade you're not happy with. 

You can retake English and maths in November but will have to wait until the next summer to resit any other GCSEs. 

Reviews of marking are available for a short period of time after you have received your results – and any reviews will be your final grade; your original grade won't count, even if it's higher.

Whether or not you apply for a review of marking or to be entered for retake should depend on a few things.

Opting for a review is expensive and may result in your mark going down instead of up. Also, the marks will only be adjusted if there’s a 'significant error' by the original marker. 

Because of this, reviews are best used when you feel you did much better in the exam than your mark suggests; have a chat with your subject teacher, they will be able to give you individual advice.

Here are a few possible scenarios along with the suggested actions:

• I didn't perform as well as I could have done in my exams due to outside circumstances
  A retake could be the best option for you, providing you feel that studying for the exam wouldn't have a negative impact upon any other studies.

• I found my original exam extremely difficult, and I didn't understand the content very well
  Speak to your subject teacher. They may recommend focusing on other exams rather than retaking or they may be able to offer you extra sessions to prepare you for a resit.

You usually have to pay a fee to either retake an exam or to have your paper reviewed, although your centre may choose to pay these fees for you. 

The cost of retaking or reviewing is dependent on the exam board, so you should speak to your examinations officer to make sure you have all of the information. 

The Joint Council for Qualifications has a guide with everything you can do after getting your results. You can find it on the JCQ post-results services page.

Not sure you fancy going back to the classroom to study for A-levels? There are lots of options available after your GCSEs. 

Here's our guide to all of the post-GCSE routes and options, from academic to vocational and job-related qualifications.

You can also get some great advice on apprenticeships and careers and employment in the forums.