A-level top grades rise on last year and remain above pre-pandemic levels

The proportion of A-level entries awarded top grades is up on last year and remains above pre-pandemic levels, national figures show.

Hundreds of thousands of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their exam results on Thursday in a year when grading was expected to be restored to 2019 levels in all three nations.

More than a quarter (27.8%) of UK entries were awarded an A or A* grade, up by 0.6 percentage points on last year when 27.2% achieved the top grades.

This was also higher than in 2019 – the last year that summer exams were taken before the pandemic – when 25.4% of entries were awarded A or A* grades.

Overall, the proportion of UK entries awarded the top A* grade this year has risen by 0.4 percentage points to 9.3%, compared with 8.9% in 2023, and it is higher than when it stood at 7.7% in 2019.

Excluding 2020-2022, the years of the pandemic, this is the highest proportion of A* grades awarded since they were first handed out in 2010.

But the overall pass rate – the proportion of entries graded A* to E – has fallen to 97.2% this year, which is lower than last year (97.3%) and the pre-pandemic year of 2019 (97.6%).

The figures, published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), cover A-level entries from students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In England, exams regulator Ofqual had said it expected this year’s A-level results to be “broadly similar” to last year, when grades were restored to pre-pandemic levels.

Ofqual’s chief regulator Sir Ian Bauckham told a briefing that standards had been maintained from last year.

He said: “There is no grade inflation this year. Standards have been maintained from 2023. Any change is largely due to the ability of the cohort.”

In Wales and Northern Ireland, exam regulators said they aimed to return to pre-pandemic grading this summer – a year later than in England.

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

The number of applicants accepted on to UK degree courses has risen this year, Ucas figures show.

Overall, 243,650 18-year-old applicants from the UK have been accepted at a university or college, compared to 230,600 last year – a rise of 6%.

In A-levels, boys have pulled further ahead of girls at the top grade this year, with 9.5% of boys’ entries scoring an A* compared with 9.1% of girls’ entries – a gap of 0.4 percentage points. Last year the gap was 0.3 percentage points.

Boys have traditionally led girls, scoring more A* grades than their female classmates every year between 2012 and 2019. But girls overtook boys between 2020 and 2022 – the years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Girls continued to outperform boys at A* and A but the gender gap has narrowed again this year.

A total of 4,135 students in England alone scored three A* grades, according to separate figures from Ofqual. This is up from 3,820 last year and 2,785 in 2019.

The latest statistics show that the attainment gap between independent schools and comprehensives in England has widened compared with last year.

The latest Ofqual figures show that this summer, 49.4% of independent school candidates scored grade A or above in all subjects, compared with 22.3% of those at comprehensive schools – a gap of 27.1 percentage points.

Last year, the gap was 25.4 percentage points, while in 2019 it was 24.8 percentage points.

The cohort of students who are receiving their results were in Year 9 when schools shut due to Covid-19, and they were the first year group to sit GCSE exams after they were cancelled for two years in a row.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson offered her congratulations to students, telling Times Radio: “They’ve been through an awful lot in recent years and they’ve shown tremendous resilience, and they’ve had fantastic support from the staff and teachers within their schools and colleges, and it’s a big and exciting day for them.”

Leaders in the education sector have warned that this cohort of young people has had to overcome a series of challenges – and those from disadvantaged backgrounds have been hit the worst.

Just days before the academic year was due to start last year, a number of schools were forced to offer remote learning when reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete was found in buildings.

A one-off uplift to exam marks has not been granted to all pupils who had their education disrupted by the concrete crisis despite calls from schools and families affected.

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “This is a red-letter day for thousands of young people and there will be both celebrations and disappointments. Students in the latter category should not despair, however, as there are a range of options available.”

He added: “While the dark days of the pandemic are in the past, its legacy continues to haunt us, as many of these students experienced severe disruption to their education.

“In particular, this impacted upon young people from disadvantaged backgrounds whose families were also adversely affected by the subsequent cost-of-living crisis.”

Jill Duffy, chairwoman of the JCQ board of directors and chief executive of the OCR exam board, said: “With A-level grades similar to last year, Gen Z students and their teachers will see some much-needed continuity and stability after the disruptions of the pandemic.

“Whether going to university or into training or straight into a career, their qualifications help them move on to their next stage, and we wish them every success in the future.”

In England, 7,380 students received their T-level results in the third year that the qualification has been awarded – and 88.7% achieved at least a pass.

Around 250,000 results were also issued to students who took level 3 vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) this year.

Margaret Farragher, chief executive of the JCQ, said: “Huge congratulations to students on their achievements, spanning a range of vocational, technical and academic qualifications.

“While the pandemic is now behind us, we must acknowledge that this group of students faced disruption during their education and pay tribute to their resilience.”

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

Figures released by the Scottish Qualifications Authority showed 77.2% of those sitting National 5 exams passed with grades A to C – down from 78.8% last year.

For Highers, 74.9% passed with the top bands, down from 77.1% last year, and for Advanced Highers 75.3% of students achieved A to C grades, falling from 79.8% in 2023.