I’m sure that many parents with children in Year 10, the old Fourth Form in my father’s language, will be aware that in 2017 the grades in GCSE English and Maths will have changed to a number system.

The government’s benchmark of success within examinations in the core — a C grade in GCSE English and Maths— was achieved by 58% of Year 11 nationally, last year.

However, the new GCSE grade scale of 9-1 will impact greatly upon the government’s “world class standard” percentages.

The new standard will be whether a students has achieved a “5”, and, significantly, an analysis of last summer’s GCSE results in English and Maths shows little more than a third (35%) of Year 11 students in the country would have gained a “5”.

One could argue that this is fine, as long as this is in line with the international standards to which we aspire.

Also, there is nothing wrong with rigour, and schools will have to raise their game still further to ensure that as many young people as possible achieve a “5”.

For myself, however, there are issues around assessment, post-16 and university entrance, employment opportunities and self-esteem of our children.

Firstly, there has been hardly any publication of guidance or sample assessments to help any teacher assess students against the new system, and this is problematic for current Year 10 students, teachers and parents.

Second, if, as projected, 23% fewer students achieve the “New Good Pass”, how will this impact upon entry to sixth forms, and what further problems will this cause for admission to universities (at a time when Ofsted have stressed that there is a national teacher shortage)?

Third, employers will need to be aware of the new system, as they may well be selecting employees from different year groups based upon different qualifications, as well as different degrees of difficulty within the exams.

Finally, and crucially, what will the new system add to the value of our young people if two thirds of them are suddenly not receiving “good” GCSEs, even when they may actually have performed better than previous students?