ADVISERS are on hand across Furness today as thousands of pupils pick up their GCSE results.

Career guidance experts from Inspira will be available to talk to teenagers in all schools expect Millom School and there will be sessions held in the centre in Barrow for three days following results day.

Advice will be available to the nervous youngsters on a wide range of post-16 options including sixth form, apprenticeships, vocational and technical courses at college or other forms of training.

For young people who need more in-depth help Inspira also runs the Government backed Launch Pad programme.

It provides one-to-one and group tuition alongside targeted information, advice and guidance and helps prepare young people for further education or training.

More than 600 young people have so far received support from Launch Pad since January 2016, with over 350 progressed into employment, apprenticeships, traineeships or full-time education. The rest are taking up opportunities this autumn.

Peter Clark, Inspira’s contract lead, said: “Launch Pad is predominately for young people who are classed as not in education, employment or training (NEET) or potentially NEET.

“The label can be considered negative, but the term theoretically covers young people who have left school this year and are waiting for their exam results before they decide what to do next, those who may be undecided about their future and young people who haven’t managed to secure a position for September either in an apprenticeship or further education.”

Areas of development are identified with participants before bespoke learning plans are drawn up.

Participants can also get experience in sectors including customer service, administration, warehousing and digital technology.

The support comes amid ongoing reforms to GCSE and A-level exams. The phased introduction of a new grading system continues today. The move has “ratcheted up the pressure” on teenagers, school leaders have warned.

Heads have raised concerns that GCSE reforms in England could have an impact on the mental health of young people, adding that schools have responded to the situation by giving students extensive support to help ease stress and anxiety.

According to one study, as few as 200 students could score a clean sweep of 9s - the new top grade - in all of their GCSEs today.

One expert argued that last year, a higher percentage of English and maths entries gained the two new top grades - 8s and 9s - than the proportion of A*s awarded for the two subjects in 2016 under the old system.

English and maths were the first subjects to move to the new 1-9 grades 12 months ago.

This year, 20 subjects will be awarded the new-style 1-9 grades - with a grade 7 broadly equivalent to an A under the old system, and a 4 broadly equivalent to a C.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “We are concerned that the new grading system for GCSEs ratchets up the pressure on young people another notch.

“It was already very hard to achieve the top grade of A* under the old system, and it is even harder to achieve the top grade of a 9 under the new system."

“Young people striving for those top grades may therefore feel disappointed if they do not achieve them, even though they have done exceptionally well in the grades they do achieve.”

Teenagers should be aware that the “bar has deliberately been set at a higher level” under the new system, and they should “take great pride in their results”, he said.

An Ofqual spokesman said: “Fewer grade 9s will be awarded in each subject than A*”, adding that grades 9s are intended to reward “exceptional performance”.

Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “This year, like last, it has been virtually impossible for teachers to predict their students’ results because of a lack of certainty in the new 9-1 grade boundaries.”

A Department for Education spokesman said: “Our new gold-standard GCSEs don’t just raise academic standards but the new grade 9 provides stretch at the top end of ability to recognise exceptional performance.”