Top A-level grades hit record high outside of Covid pandemic

Pupils are celebrating a bumper year for A-level results after scoring record top grades outside of the pandemic years.

In Rutland, East Midlands, a jaw-dropping 41 per cent of all entries were graded A or A* – making it the best-performing region in the UK.

Across all regions, 28.3 per cent of pupils got A/A* this year, compared with 27.8 per cent last year, and 25.4 per cent in 2019.

Outside of the Covid years of 2020-2022, when grades were vastly inflated due to teacher assessment, this is the highest proportion on record. 

In addition, 9.4 per cent of entries got A* grades this year – almost 1 in 10 – up from 9.3 per cent last year and 7.7 per cent in 2019 – making this also a non-pandemic record. 

The top results meant a record 439,180 were accepted onto degree courses, up 3.1 per cent on the same point last year.

Ofqual said this morning results are ‘stable’ and suggested any changes could be due to the fact that this year students are cleverer.

This is due to them being the first cohort since the pandemic to have GCSE grading returned to normal – so harder – putting less able students off taking A-levels.

Students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their exam results on this morning.

The figures also show boys have outperformed girls in terms of top grades for the first time in seven years.

And the overall pass rate – the proportion of entries graded A* to E – has also risen to 97.5 per cent this year, which is up on last year (97.2 per cent) and the pre-pandemic year of 2019 (97.6 per cent).

Sir Ian Bauckham, chief regulator of Ofqual, England’s exams regulator, said the standard of work required to achieve grades has ‘held constant’ since 2023.

He said any changes were because a ‘smaller, smarter cohort’ of students had sat their A-level exams this year compared to previous years.

Sir Ian said: ‘Students this year have got the grades they deserve, and their grade will hold its value over time because it represents a stable standard of achievement.’

The Covid-19 pandemic led to an increase in top grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams. 

In 2022, grading was brought half way back to normal. 

This cohort of school and college leavers received their GCSE results in 2023, the first year that grading was returned to pre-pandemic levels in England.

In Wales and Northern Ireland, exam regulators returned to pre-pandemic grading in 2024, a year later than in England.

The Ofqual chief said this year’s cohort in England was smaller because ‘fewer students met the bar’ to begin A-level courses two years ago, when GCSE grading was returned to normal.

Sir Ian added: ‘So it is a smaller cohort and, judged in terms of GCSE attainment, it’s a higher-achieving cohort than has been the case for the past few years.’

In England, 11,909 students received their T-level results in the fourth year that the qualification has been awarded and 91.4 per cent achieved at least a pass.

The number of T-level entries has increased by 61.4 per cent on last year, while the number of A-level entries has fallen by 0.5 per cent compared to 2024.

Overall, 28.4 per cent of boys’ A-level entries scored an A* or A this summer, compared to 28.2 per cent of their female classmates’ entries – a gap of 0.2 percentage points. The last time boys had a lead was in 2018.

Last year, girls were ahead with 28.0 per cent of entries scoring at least an A, compared to 27.6 per cent of those from boys, the latest figures show.

Students who are receiving their A-level, T-level and Level 3 vocational and technical qualification (VTQ) results were in Year 8 when schools closed because of the pandemic.

Education leaders have warned of ‘stark’ divides in results between different regions because of the legacy of Covid-19 and socio-economic factors.

The latest Ofqual figures show wide regional differences in outcomes, with the North East the only region in England to see a drop in the proportion of top grades down on last year and 2019.

It has led to fears that disadvantaged regions have not recovered following disruption from the pandemic. 

The gap between the proportion of A-level entries in London awarded the highest grades and those in north-east England is at its widest since the current system of grading was introduced.

Some 32.1 per cent of entries in the capital were awarded A or A* this year, the highest for any region in England and up from 31.3 per cent in 2024.

By contrast, north-east England had the lowest regional percentage this year at 22.9 per cent, down from 23.9 per cent in 2024.

The gap between these two regions now stands at 9.2 percentage points, up from 7.4 points last year and the largest since the present system of grading began in 2010.

North-east England is one of just two regions to see a year-on-year drop in entries receiving top grades, the other being West Midlands (down from 24.8 per cent to 24.2 per cent).

It is also the only region where the proportion of entries awarded A or A* this year, 22.9 per cent, is lower than the equivalent figure in the pre-pandemic year of 2019 (23.0 per cent).

For entries receiving the top grade of A*, London again had the highest proportion (11.6 per cent, up from 11.3 per cent) and north-east England the lowest (6.8 per cent, down from 7.8 per cent).

The gap here of 4.8 percentage points is wider than in 2024 (3.5 points) but not as large as during the pandemic, when it reached 6.8 points in 2021.

North-east England and the West Midlands are the only regions to see a year-on-year fall in entries receiving A*.

By contrast, all regions reported a year-on-year increase in the proportion of entries awarded a grade C or higher, with London and south-east England almost tied on the highest percentage (79.54 per cent and 79.45 per cent respectively) and the East Midlands having the lowest (73.6 per cent).

At a national level, 30.4 per cent of entries in Northern Ireland received A or A*, higher than the equivalent figure for Wales (29.5 per cent) and England (28.2 per cent).

For entries awarded C or above, Northern Ireland was ahead at 85.8 per cent, above England (77.7 per cent) and Wales (77.2 per cent).

Jill Duffy, chairwoman of JCQ board of directors and chief executive of the OCR exam board, said: ‘Regional inequalities are getting worse, not better.

‘The gap at top grades (A*-A) has grown again. London is once again the top performing region and is now 9.2 percentage points ahead of the North East.’

She added: ‘These regional inequalities need more attention.’

The statistics also show interest in A-level maths has soared in the last decade, with entries for the subject up by more than a fifth – 21.7 per cent – in the last 10 years.

But there is a clear gender divide, with boys significantly more likely to choose the subject than girls.

There were 70,255 boys’ entries for A-level maths this year, compared to 41,883 girls’ entries – both up on 2024.

Ms Duffy added: ‘There are still significantly fewer girls taking A-level maths, and proportionally there are fewer girls taking the subject than in 2019.’

Scotland has a different qualification system and students received their results on Tuesday last week.

Figures released by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) showed that 78.4 per cent of those sitting National 5 exams passed with grades A to C – up from 77.2 per cent last year.

For Highers, 75.9 per cent passed with the top bands, up from 74.9 per cent last year, and for Advanced Highers 76.7 per cent of students achieved A to C grades, up from 75.3 per cent last year.

Figures published by Ucas, the official admissions body, found overall, 82 per cent of UK 18-year-old applicants awaiting a decision on results day secured their first choice – which was the same proportion as last year.

For 18-year-olds in the UK, 255,130 applicants have been accepted onto a university or college course – up 4.7 per cent on last year.

The number of international students who have been accepted on to undergraduate courses has risen by 2.9 per cent – from 51,170 last year to 52,640.

Accepted applicants from China – 12,380 – are up 13 per cent compared with last year.

Jo Saxton, chief executive of Ucas, said: ‘This year’s students were just thirteen when the pandemic hit, and their secondary schooling was turned upside down.

‘It’s great to see these applicants securing a university place in record numbers, seeking more education and investing in their futures.

‘I am equally delighted to see how universities across the country have responded to their ambition.

‘For any student who didn’t quite get the grades they were hoping for, or even those still yet to apply, there are plenty of options in clearing with around 27,000 available courses.

‘Ucas experts are also available on the phones, on social media and on the Ucas website, to help all those deciding on the next step that’s right for them.’

This morning, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said there has been a ‘steadying of the ship’ after the disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, she said: ‘What we’ve seen is a steadying of the ship, both this year and last following some of the disruption that we saw during the pandemic.

‘These are young people who have not had disruption in recent times, but have had the full normal assessment process.

‘These are also young people who would have been the first to sit GCSEs under normal circumstances. So they’ve gone through the full regular GCSE cycle that you would have expected before the pandemic.

‘So, this is a normal year, the kind of year that we would have seen before the pandemic hit.’

Mrs Phillipson also addressed the issue of ‘yawning inequalities in exam achievement.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, she said: ‘Alongside the post-16 white paper that we’ll be publishing later on this year, I will also bring a big focus through our schools white paper on how we tackle these thorny generational challenges where white working-class kids across our country don’t get the start that they deserve.

‘Now the school system is an important part of how we respond to that, but I would say alongside it so much of this develops and opens up in the early years.

‘The attainment gap that we see between less well-off students and better-off students opens up before the age of five.

‘It’s why early years has been such a priority, because if we get that right then we set up children to succeed, but we will take more action in the school system to ensure that those gaps that we see, those yawning inequalities, are addressed.

‘It’s something the last government failed to tackle. It is something this Government will grasp.’