The 2026 National Reference Test: rising attainment in maths and what this means for grades

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The 2026 National Reference Test results are out. They show a long-term trend of slightly improved attainment in GCSE maths, but not in English language. To ensure standards are maintained, we told exam boards to take the results of the NRT into account when setting some GCSE maths grade boundaries. Here we explain what that …