GCSE subject guide

Popular GCSE subjects in the UK, with a short curriculum summary and the 2024 to 2026 grade results for each. Choose a tab.

Where the numbers come from. Entries and grades are UK-wide, all ages, from JCQ results tables as republished by Tutor Lab (2026), Tutor Mint (2025), Tes (2024 grades) and the JCQ trends reports for 2024 and 2025 (entries). The 2025 grades agree with the 2026 year-on-year changes. Gaps (hatched bars, dashes) are figures I could not find published for that year.

Italian. 2024 entries are from the JCQ Other MFL entries table; 2025 entries and grades are from the JCQ GCSE Miscellaneous table. I could not find Italian on its own for 2026, or its 2024 grades. Its Overview row uses 2025 figures.

Music and Media studies. Music entries are from the JCQ trends reports (2024 and 2025) and Tutor Lab (2026). Music grades are from Tes (2024) and Tutor Lab (2026); the 2025 grades are worked out from Tutor Lab's change on 2025, so they may differ slightly from the published figures. Other outlets quote slightly different Music grades, probably because they cover England only. Media studies has only 2026 entries, and its 2025 grades are worked out in the same way. I could not find its 2024 figures.

About the histograms. Only the cumulative share at grade 4 and above and at grade 7 and above were available, so the bars show three bands: grades 7 to 9, grades 4 to 6, and below grade 4. A full 9-to-1 split is in the JCQ spreadsheets but could not be read here. Combined science (Double award) counts two entries per student. Summaries describe typical national GCSE content; the exam board, tiers and options at The Broxbourne School should be confirmed in the school's options booklet.