Teenagers' futures could be decided within moments today... as they open the crucial envelope that reveals their GCSE results.

Thousands of students across the county will nervously head for schools after the long break, to find out if their grades are better or worse than expected.

But not one pupil will walk straight into a full-time job.

This year is the first time all GCSE pupils have been forced to stay in education after their results.

Students in year 11 must either stay on in school or training until the end of the term when they're 17.

From next year they must stay in some form of education or training until the end of the year when they're 18.

Nigel Blackburn, principal adviser for secondary schools in Kent. predicted "significant turbulence" nationally in the core subjects.

But in Kent there could be a slight increase in the results - for a 13th year in a row.

He warned grades could drop in some core subjects, such as English, science and maths.

He added: "There will be a significant number of schools that find themselves with reduced results for two reasons: the grade boundary changes in core subjects - science has set a much harder examination this year - also OfQual have implemented penalties, up to 5% of marks, in the English Baccalaureate if students fail the punctuate and if spelling is poor, so we could see results decrease in these areas."

He said the raising in the school leaving age should give further opportunities to pupils.

Follow our results coverage as it updates throughout the day.

Also, why not share your joy (or pain) and tweet us how well you or your relative has done at #kentgcses.