Employers are confused by the new GCSE grading system as a quarter think the bottom grade is the best mark, a survey has found.

More than one in five employers incorrectly thought that 1 was the top grade, according to a new report published by the exams watchdog.

Ofqual commissioned a YouGov survey of 2,974 employers, universities, school leaders, parents, teachers and members of the general public to ask about perceptions of GCSEs and A levels.

Some 23 per cent of employers wrongly believed that 1 was the top grade, compared with 64 per cent who correctly stated that 9 was.

Eight per cent of universities also thought that 1 was the top grade, along with six per cent of headteachers, the poll found. The proportion rose to 16 per cent among parents.

Last summer, students received their marks for GCSEs for the first time under the new numerical system which uses grades one to nine, rather than from A* to G.

The numerical grades were designed by former Education Secretary Michael Gove as part of a package of reforms to toughen up syllabuses and to counter grade inflation at the top end, since A and A* are split between seven, eight and nine.