Over five million teenagers are collecting their grades today as GCSE results for 2026 are announced. A week after A-Level results were released, students are waiting to find out what they will do for the next stage of their education. GCSE results will be published from 8am (GMT) on Thursday (August 20). Students will usually receive their results in one of four ways: collection in person from school, email, an online results portal or through a dedicated results app.
The old A* - G GCSE grading system was replaced by a 9-1 grading scale, with 9 being the highest grade and 1 being the lowest. Fully implemented in 2020, the change was intended to make it easier for sixth forms, universities and employers to distinguish between candidates.
Despite finding fame at a young age, it did not stop some of the Premier League's best ever footballers from having to do their exams. As young people across the country learn their grades, we are taking a look at how the likes of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard fared on results day.
Wayne Rooney skipped GCSEs
Kicking off the list is someone who did not actually take his GCSEs. Wayne Rooney was only 16 in 2002 when he began playing for Everton. Rooney would go to join Manchester United in 2004 and become the club's top goalscorer of all time with 253 goals. On top of this, Rooney was England's record goalscorer from 2015 to 2023 before Harry Kane took the honour.
Talking about his education to the BBC, Rooney said: "It's no secret that I didn't even take GCSEs but I think people assume because of that that I'm not educated, which is really wrong. I made a conscious effort when I was at Everton and Manchester United to educate myself in a lot of different things, such as black history and religion."
He added: "The reason I did that was because I wanted to hold conversations with my team-mates who are from different backgrounds. That was something I did to help me with my team-mates and help understand how they have been brought up. That's probably something people don't understand about me."
Steven Gerrard's underwhelming results
Despite not winning the Premier League, Steven Gerrard is widely regarded as one of England's best ever players. The former Liverpool captain won a Champions League, Europa League, two FA Cups and three League Cups. Also picking up 14 international caps for England, there are few players with a better football IQ than Gerrard.
Unlike Rooney, Gerrard stayed in the classroom as he worked his way up the football ranks. Presumably because of the amount of time he was training, Gerrard's GCSEs were a tad underwhelming. He earned one C, six Ds and two Es.
Former Huyton and Roby Primary School teacher Gillian Morgan said of Gerrard: "The thing I remember most about him was his ability as a leader on the field. I think he started playing for the school team when he was nine years old and even then Steven was always trying to help others."
Frank Lampard's academic excellence
Preparing to manage Coventry City's first Premier League season in 25 years, Frank Lampard may be the brainiest footballer among them all. He earned 12 GCSEs at A* or A, including an A* in Latin.
Lampard said of his results: "I got an A* in Latin, more through application than talent for Latin, I would say. I don't know how I did it. In terms of application, I was quite a good boy at school."
He added: "I wanted to do well, I wanted to please my teachers and my parents back home, and Latin was one I think I probably just crammed in a lot of revision at the right time and managed to get an A*, which everyone is so surprised about!"
Once he was done with school, Lampard went on to become a Chelsea legend. He still holds the record of the most Premier League goals (177) by a midfielder in its history. Lampard won three Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, four FA Cups, and two League Cups.
David Beckham and Harry Kane
David Beckham went to Chase Lane Primary School and then attended Chingford Foundation School, which was called Chingford County High School when he was a student there, in East London. However, he did not have to do his GCSEs. This was due to him leaving school when he was 16 as a YTS (Youth Training Scheme) apprentice with Manchester United without completing formal GCSE exams. It turned out to be a good move, with him becoming one of the most recognisable players of all time.
Seeking to provide football education to a new generation of players, David formed The David Beckham Academy in 2005. Running until 2009, it operated in London and in LA, where he played towards the end of his career.
England captain and Bayern Munich star Harry Kane attended the same school as David Beckham. Former head of PE at the school, Mark Leadon, revealed Kane passed all of his GCSEs. He told the East London Guardian: "He was conscientious, behaved himself and was a good all-round sportsman. He never saw himself as a superstar, he just got on with it."
It is unclear if Kane studied German, but it would have been a big help if he did as he is currently playing in the German capital. The Spurs legend is their all-time top goalscorer (280), England's all-time top goalscorer (85), and the highest-scoring English player in the UEFA Champions League (54).
Gary Neville and Marcus Rashford
Gary Neville went to Elton High School in Bury, Greater Manchester. Prior to becoming a successful businessman as well as a Sky pundit, he received an A, two Bs and two Cs at GCSE. Neville, who helped found the University Academy 92 higher education institution with former Man United teammates Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil Neville, and Nicky Butt, previously called for the A-Levels to be scrapped.
He said in 2023 on BBC Breakfast: "I don't believe you should work for 16 years at school and then it all depends on a two-hour assessment… I honestly believe that it needs ripping up; I think you should be judged on your body of work."
He added: "There are easier ways to gain consistency and assessment through marking people over their coursework and that does happen, obviously… but I believe we need to move it all towards that."
Similarly to Rooney, Marcus Rashford broke onto the scene as a teenager. He was 18 when Louis van Gaal gave him his Manchester United debut, where he scored a brace against Danish side FC Midtjylland in the Europa League. The England international left school with nine GCSEs and even stayed on to do A-Levels at Sixth Form. He studied at Ashton-on-Mersey School, where he completed a BTEC National Diploma in Sport (worth two A-levels) alongside functional skills.
In 2020, a campaign by the footballer forced the UK government to twice reverse its decision not to extend free school meals to eligible children in England during the holidays. "If you change the mindset of the public and you change the way that they do things and then you have the government support you as well, you can create sustainable change," he told Channel 4.
