Pupils to receive GCSE and A-Level results online

Students will soon be able to avoid the exam result-day trauma of waiting outside school to find out their grades as a new online service will allow them to log on and find out if they have passed or failed.

Exam board Edexcel is trialling the service this summer with around 1,000 GCSE and A-Level students who will get their results on 17 and 24 August.

Students will be given their own login details to access a secure website where they can view an electronic copy of the paper exam-results document instead of going to collect it in person or having it delivered by post.

A smaller pilot among 200 maths GCSE students from mainly Birmingham schools is also being conducted that will give pupils access to more detailed information about their exam performance.

These students will be able to access a personalised report detailing their strengths and weaknesses in the subject. Model answers to exams questions will also be available, to help students identify where they went wrong.

The 'results plus' service will allow the students to view their actual marked exam paper online, showing the score for each question, their overall grade and a personalised skills report identifying their strengths and weaknesses in the subject.

An Edexcel spokeswoman said students will first have to register with the exam board to receive their results online.

She said: "We then provide them with personalised logon details to access the secure section of the website."

Jerry Jarvis, MD of Edexcel, said the electronic marking of exams, which is now done on screen with a mouse, is behind the advances in how results and performance data can be delivered to schools and students.