A new platform is intended to make life easier for students, colleges, and employers, while also saving the education system tens of millions of pounds in admin costs each year

Government is launching an app that will enable year 11 students to access their GCSE results on their phone this summer.

While results will still be first made available in person at schools across the country, they will subsequently become available via the newly launched Education Record app.

The government then hopes that the technology will make it easier for students to provide information to colleges or employers, as well as enabling companies and further-education institutions to obtain “clear, accurate information on a job candidate’s education history without relying on paper certificates which can be easily lost”.

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The app could save schools and colleges a cumulative total of £30m a year in admin costs, the government believes.

The technology has already been piloted in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands and is now being offered nationwide, with schools being encouraged to sign up as soon as possible. Government also hopes that, in time, the record will also be linked to the planned GOV.UK Wallet – a smartphone system enabling citizens to store state-issued documents digitally in a single place.

Skills minister Jacqui Smith said: “No student should have to rifle through drawers looking for a crumpled certificate when they’re preparing for a job interview. This app will give young people instant access to their results whenever they need them while freeing up teachers and college staff from unnecessary paperwork.”