IT'S time.

After months of revision, weeks of waiting and perhaps one or two sleepless nights, GCSE results day is finally here.

And as if sitting the exams wasn't stressful enough, there's a new grading system for us all to understand.

Teenagers will be heading back to school for one final time on Thursday as they collect their results.

But rather rather than hoping for A* to C, they will have everything crossed they have got 9s to 4s.

English and maths were the first subjects to make the change to the new grades in 2017 and this year the majority of subjects will be awarded the new-style grades. 

What has changed with GCSEs?

The government decided to change the way GCSEs are taught and marked.

Courses are now graded from 9 to 1, with 9 being the highest grade instead of A*.

GCSEs will also be taught differently as exams boards stop dividing courses up into modules and put all of the exams at the end of a two-year programme instead of spreading assessments out.

Why have GCSEs changed?

The new courses are designed to be more challenging for pupils.

The government said the qualifications will be more demanding, meaning that teenagers will leave school ‘better prepared’ for work or university.

And it is hoped the new system will bring England up to the standard of education in other countries.

Which subjects have changed?

The vast majority of students taking GCSEs in England in 2019 will receive grades from 9 to 1.

Students taking the following five lesser-taught GCSE subjects will receive letter grades in 2019 before they become numerical (9 to 1) in 2020:

  • Biblical Hebrew
  • Gujarati
  • Persian
  • Portuguese
  • Turkish

How do the new grades compare to A* to G marks?

The 9 to 1 marks are designed to distinguish between the highest performing students.

The Department for Education said a 4 is a ‘standard pass’ under the new system and all pupils need to score 4 or higher in English and maths.

If they do not they will have to continue studying English and maths as part of their post-16 education.

The marking systems are not directly comparable but the bottom of grade 7 is roughly a grade A, a 4 equates to a C and a 1 is akin to a G.

Warrington Guardian:

Credit: Ofqual

Will my child get a lower grade under the 1 to 9 system than the A* to G system?

The Department for Education said although the new exams are more challenging, children will not get lower grades than they would have scored under the old system.

Exam boards will use statistics to make sure that roughly the same proportion of students will achieve a grade 7 and above as the amount of pupils who received a grade A and above in 2017, and so on.

An Ofqual spokesman added: "In the first year each new GCSE subject has been introduced, broadly the same proportion of students get a grade 4 or above as would have got a grade C or above in the old system."

Having said that, it has also been warned fewer grade 9s are awarded than A*s.