By Tariq Khan | www.tkmathsacademy.co.uk
GCSE Results Day can be one of the most important moments of the academic year for a Maths department. It is a day of celebration, reflection and, sometimes, difficult decisions.
Before we get to the practicalities, remember that students worked hard for their results, many students took 8+ subjects and probably sat 25+ exam papers plus any NEAs, so their Maths grade may not be the most important to them, be supportive whatever results they get.
For Heads of Maths, the challenge is now to move beyond simply looking at the headline percentage and quickly establish what happened, why it happened and what needs to happen next.
Here are six priorities to focus on during Results Day and the first week of term.
1. Identify the ‘Borderline’ Students
One of the first priorities should be identifying students who are close to key grade boundaries.
Three actions
- Analyse students just below key thresholds, such as 3/4, 4/5 and 6/7.
- Compare their marks with the relevant grade boundaries rather than looking at grades alone.
- Prioritise students where a post-results remarks may be appropriate, based on the scripts available.
The purpose isn’t to automatically request remarks for students who narrowly miss a grade. Instead, use the scripts to identify cases where there is a genuine reason to investigate further.
2. Manage Post-Results Services Carefully
Post-results decisions require a careful, evidence-based process. JCQ states that centres must obtain written candidate consent for reviews of marking, because marks and grades can go down as well as up. In Maths, if you are selecting students near the top of a grade it is unlikely they will drop a whole grade, but remarks are expensive as you usually have to pay for all 3 papers to be remarked, so choose wisely so it does not cost the school/parents too much.
Three actions
- Gain permission from the student before accessing their script, and ensure the appropriate consent process is followed. JCQ requires prior written permission before a centre requests a candidate’s script. Get them to send you a quick email
- Download the script for FREE before deciding whether to pay for a paper remark. Services like Access to Scripts (AQA) or Script Viewer (Edexcel) can be used to support decisions about remarks, and an experienced/expert marker can review the script and advise whether a remark appears justified.
- If a remark is appropriate, obtain the required written candidate consent and follow the awarding body’s deadlines and procedures. For the Summer 2026 series, JCQ lists 24 September 2026 as the deadline for reviews of results.
This is particularly important because a review of marking is not simply a re-mark. The awarding body’s reviewer checks whether the original marking was applied correctly.
The key principle: Look at the script for FREE before making the decision and advise the student.
3. Establish the Headline Picture
Hopefully you have a good data team who will provide this data for you. Before diving into detailed question-level analysis, establish a clear picture of overall Maths performance.
Three actions
- Compare Maths outcomes against your targets and the previous year.
- Identify performance by grade, including key thresholds such as 4+, 5+, 7+ and 9.
- Determine whether the key story is attainment, progress or the distribution of grades.
Don’t allow one headline figure to define the entire story.
A cohort could have improved its Grade 4+ figure while still having significant weaknesses at higher grades. Equally, a department may have achieved strong overall outcomes while particular groups or prior-attainment bands require attention.
4. Analyse Performance by Student Group
Once the headline picture is clear, move quickly to who succeeded and who didn’t.
Three actions
- Break results down by key student groups, such as disadvantaged students, SEND and prior attainment.
- Identify significant gaps compared with the overall cohort.
- Create a shortlist of groups requiring intervention or curriculum changes.
This analysis can help prevent a department from drawing conclusions based solely on the overall cohort.
For example, an apparently strong result may hide a significant gap for students with lower prior attainment. Conversely, a small overall improvement may conceal excellent progress for a particular group.
The important question is:
Which students benefited most from our provision — and which students didn’t?
5. Interrogate Question-Level Performance
Once the initial results have been reviewed, question-level data becomes one of the most powerful tools available to a Head of Maths.
Three actions
- Identify topics and questions where the cohort significantly underperformed.
- Compare performance with previous cohorts and internal assessments.
- Categorise weaknesses into knowledge, application, reasoning, problem-solving and exam technique.
Don’t simply create a list of topics that students got wrong.
Look for patterns.
Did students struggle with unfamiliar contexts?
Were errors concentrated in multi-step problems?
Did students know the mathematics but fail to communicate their reasoning?
Were particular topics consistently weaker across different exam papers?
The aim is to move from “Students struggled with algebra” to a much more useful diagnosis of what aspect of algebra students struggled with and why.
6. Communicate the Story — Not Just the Numbers
Finally, the Head of Maths needs to turn the analysis into a clear departmental narrative.
Three actions
- Prepare a concise Maths results summary for SLT.
- Share key strengths and areas for development with the Maths team.
- Make sure the team leaves your first department meeting with clear actions, owners and deadlines for September.
A results analysis is only valuable if it changes what happens next.
Your team should be able to answer three questions:
What went well?
What didn’t go well?
What are we going to do differently?
The Bigger Picture
GCSE results analysis shouldn’t become an exercise in producing spreadsheets and percentages, it’s about giving students the best teaching and learning experience to achieve great things.
In my experience, the most effective Heads of Maths use results to create a cycle of continuous improvement:
Celebrate the successes → Identify the gaps → Understand the causes → Plan the response → Act on the evidence.
Results Day tells you what happened.
The work that follows should help you understand why it happened — and, most importantly, what you can do about it.
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