A third of schools use DfE’s new GCSE results app

More than a third of secondary schools in England used a new government app to deliver GCSE results after it was rolled out nationally this year.

But only half of pupils at participating schools used the app, with the rest sticking with traditional paper-based results.

Year 11s across England this year had the option to get their results on their phones after a limited pilot last year.

A freedom of information request by Schools Week has revealed that 1,194 schools issued education records to their pupils before 31 August – 34.5 per cent of England’s secondary schools.

The data also showed the number of pupils at each school, as well as the percentage of the year 11 cohort, who received their results through the app.

This varied dramatically across each school, from 97.7 per cent to less than 1 per cent – or one or two pupils.

In total, 116,785 sets of results were issued through the app, with just 51.8 per cent of year 11 pupils at participating schools using it. This equates to 17.3 per cent of this year’s 668,790 year 11s.

‘Extra way to access results’

At All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield, 105 pupils – 47.95 per cent of the year group – favoured the app.

Martin Shaw, the school’s assistant headteacher and key stage 4 progress lead, said it gave an extra way to access results while allowing the school to maintain its usual results’-day support for pupils and families.

The school opened at 10am on results’ day so pupils could collect paper copies, while results were made available on the app at 11am.

Shaw said this benefited pupils who were on holiday or unable to attend school in person.

“We are currently reviewing this year’s experience, but our expectation is that we will continue to use the app while remaining open on results’ day.”

He said electronic results saved paper and staff time, while the app also allowed pupils to share their verified results directly with their next education provider.

Pupils scan a personal QR code that schools must provide in person so they can verify their identity.

All Saints staff visited form groups and scanned individual QR codes in the lead-up to exams.

Registration could be ‘difficult”

Shaw said mobile signals could be inconsistent when devices were not connected to wifi, and phones were not normally allowed in school, which made the registration process “more difficult for some pupils”.

“We believe this may have been a contributing factor to levels of uptake, although we did not survey pupils who chose not to use the app.”

The Bicester School in Oxfordshire shared the QR code with pupils on results’ day, which mean they had to come into school to have their identity verified.

It cited several reasons for this decision, including a “no phones” policy in term time and allowing pupils to celebrate their results and access support and guidance in person.

The school said it would use the app again as there were “sound” benefits for pupils to have an electronic record of their results, but it would not advocate pupils accessing their results via the app only.

Pilot schools snub app

Six of the 29 pilot schools in the pilot did not use the app, including Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School in Birmingham.

Laura McMenamin, it assistant head, said the school decided not to take part because it felt it was important for pupils to come into school and access face-to-face support.

While there was not a noticeable drop in attendance in last years’ trial, it was concerned that receiving results remotely might reduce attendance on future results’ days.

The school does not have a sixth form, so results’ day was an important chance to help pupils confirm their “next steps”, as well to discuss marking reviews.

“Representatives from local colleges are on site, alongside school staff, to help pupils understand their options, check entry requirements and navigate any changes to their plans.

“Our decision was therefore driven by our pupils’ needs and the value of face-to-face support.”

A DfE spokesperson said they were “proud of our efforts to bring education record-keeping into the 21st century, and it’s great news that over a third of secondary schools used the Education Record app this year”.

“We are continuing to look at options to promote and expand use of the app and to support schools so that more young people, teachers and college staff feel confident to use it.”

The DfE estimates the app will save schools and colleges up to £30 million a year in administrative costs once full roll-out is complete.