THOUSANDS of pupils will be getting their GCSE results on Thursday.

Getting your exam results is always a stressful time, but for students this year there will be the added stress that education is going through a period of qualification reforms.

Qualification Wales, the independent regulator of qualifications in Wales, has warned they expect that overall results for English language, Welsh language and the two new maths exams will be lower.

One of the key activities for Qualifications Wales is to oversee the award of GCSE, AS and A-level qualifications and the Welsh Baccalaureate.

Currently Wales is in a period of qualification reform and new Wales-only specifications have already been introduced for some subjects, with first assessments this summer at GCSE and A-level.

Six GCSE subjects were reformed for first teaching in September 2015 – English language, Welsh language, English literature, Welsh literature, mathematics–numeracy and mathematics.

Unlike England, Wales is not changing its grading system. GCSEs will therefore continue to be graded A*-G. In England, there is a new 9-1 grading scale for GCSEs.

New GCSEs, AS and A-levels are being separately reformed and introduced in Wales, England and Northern Ireland.

A spokeswoman for Qualification Wales said across the three countries, there are “important differences in some of the design features”.

For example, at A-level, Wales retains the “coupled, unitised” structure whereas England has “decoupled” the AS qualification and requires the A-level to be linear.

“Additionally, the different approaches to early entry for students in some GCSE subjects, means there is often a significant difference in the number, mix and age of students year on year,” the qualification body says.

According to figures provided by Qualification Wales, the overall entry for GCSE in Wales this year is 334,100 entries, up from 303,620 in 2016.

“However, this increase is mainly driven by two key changes,” it says in their briefing.

“There are now two GCSE mathematics qualifications and there has been a significant increase in Year 10 entries.”

Qualifications Wales is currently researching why schools are entering so many Year 10 pupils for their GCSE examinations early.

For GCSE English language, in Wales, figures show that a substantial number of pupils who sat the exam this summer were in Year 10 – 21,000 in total, which represents around 65 per cent of all Year 10 students in Wales.

For GCSE English literature, fewer than half of Year 11 pupils in Wales were entered for the exam this summer, “although some of those who did not sit it in 2017 did take it a year early in 2016 when they were in Year 10”, according to Qualifications Wales.

English literature is no longer a statutory qualification – which has been criticised.

Blackwood writer Patrick Jones said the focus is now on making children “employable”, with English literature becoming a subject for the “elite”.

“English literature brings so many ideas and concepts,” he said. “It helps you build empathy, for example.

“In such a digital environment, I think there is something about print that is very important for education.”

“Literature is so invaluable – it plays such an important part in broadening your mind.”

Mr Jones said that, in the writing sessions he does in prisons, people always “warm” to poem and songs, giving them a sense of empowerment and of not feeling alone.

“I have always had wonderful results from my work in prisons,” he said. “Literature helps you find your voice and build your self-esteem and confidence.”

Mr Jones said that he has written to cabinet secretary for education Kirsty Williams AM about this.

The author said he finds dropping English literature as a compulsory GCSE a “worrying trend”.

“The idea of a generation not being exposed to books really frightens me,” he said. “This is such an important issue.”

Figures from Qualification Wales also show that, while GCSE Welsh language has seen a 21 per cent increase in pupils taking the exam this year compared with summer 2016, GCSE Welsh literature entry data is showing an 11 per cent decrease in pupils taking the exam this year.

A spokeswoman for the organisation said: “Due to the significant increase in Year 10 pupils taking the GCSE English language, GCSE Welsh language and the two new GCSE maths exams a year early, we expect that the overall results for those subjects this summer will be lower than in previous years.

“In addition, many Year 11 students will have taken one or both of the new GCSE maths exams early last November and will have achieved the grades they wanted. As a result they will not have sat the exams this summer.

“It will therefore be difficult to make any meaningful year-on-year comparisons for these results this summer, both within Wales and between Wales and England for the English and maths exams.”

Owen Hathway, NUT Cymru policy officer, said there is no evidence that exams are getting easier.

He said: “What we do know is that the way pupils are assessed in a combination of coursework and exams means they are evaluated on an ongoing basis throughout their studies.

“This is giving a more consistent reflection of the quality of work. Our exams remain highly rigorous and the increase in results is really a testament to the hard work of pupils and teachers paying off.”

A-levels results last week showed boys beating girls for the first time, but Mr Hathway said it was “difficult” to say for certain if these results are part of a trend along gender lines, or if they will be replicated at GCSE level.

“What is certain is that schools have been doing a lot of work to engage male pupils over a number of years and so it is positive to see that boys have secured very good results in their A-levels this year,” he said.

“Of course there is still a need to continue that excellent work as well as continuing to look at how we engage female students in subjects that traditionally they have not taken up.”

He said that, as we move into a new phase of Welsh stand-alone qualifications, it is “important” that we continually apprise the way in which qualifications are implemented and developed.

“That includes looking closely at their impact on pupils, on attainment levels, on the indirect consequences that may occur from making changes such as changing the compulsory status of subjects and crucially the way qualifications and schools in general are funded,” he said.

“All of these things will have to be a priority for the Welsh Government in coming years and no doubt the feedback of classroom teachers will be invaluable in that debate.”