Just over 2,000 pupils achieved a full set of 9s - the new top, top GCSE grade designed to denote ithe very highest achievers this year.
Figures released by Ofqual today reveal that 2,050 16-year-olds in England received a 9 in each three of the core subjects with tougher reformed GCSEs.
And according to exam boards, two-thirds of the coveted grade 9s were awarded to girls.
This summer, students in England received 9 to 1 grades in English literature, English language and maths GCSEs, rather than A* to G.
There had been fears that very few students would receive a grade 9 - the new top grade - which was always supposed to be harder to get than an A*.
Tim Leunig, a chief adviser at the Department for Education, previously suggested that only two students would gain straight grade 9s once all the subjects had moved to the new scale.
By 2020, all GCSEs in England will have been reformed and graded 9 to 1.
Tom Benton, a Cambridge Assessment researcher, had told Tes that it was more likely to be in the hundreds once all the subjects had been phased in.
And for each individual subject, there would be thousands of grade 9s, he suggested.
And figures released today confirmed that thousands of entries in each reformed subject - English literature, English language and maths - received the elusive grade 9.
And overall, approximately 51,000 grade 9s were awarded across all three subjects.
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