The proportion of top grade GCSEs handed out to 16-year-olds in England has increased by just under 1 per cent, with results hailed as “evidence that we have settled back into a pattern of dependable and trustworthy results”.
But the proportion of pupils achieving a grade 4 and above in English and maths has fallen slightly, meaning more will need to continue to study the subjects during their post-16 education.
The education secretary also warned the results continue to show “unacceptable, entrenched regional disparities we have seen time and time again”.
This year, 22.6 per cent of per cent of grades issued were between 9 and 7, up 0.9 per cent from 22.4 per cent last year.
This is also higher than pre-pandemic 2019 (21.8 per cent), but below the inflated grades seen during the pandemic.
The proportion of grade 9s rose by 2 per cent from 5 per cent last year to 5.1 per cent this year.
Entries continue to rise
Overall, there were 5,214,826 GCSE entries from 16-year-olds in England this year, up 3.9 per cent from 5,021,493 last year.
This reflects the fact that the secondary school population is still growing. It will peak in 2026 before falling as a population bulge caused by the 2000s baby boom leaves compulsory education.
On average, pupils took 7.81 GCSEs this year, the same as in 2023 but down slightly from 7.9 in 2019.
Exam results have fluctuated in recent years due to disruption caused by the Covid pandemic and the cancellation of exams two years running.
A far greater proportion of top grades were issued in 2020 and 2021 when teachers assessed their own pupils. Higher grading was permitted in 2022 in recognition of ongoing disruption and a need to transition back to pre-Covid standards.
Ofqual asked exam boards to return to pre-pandemic grading standards last year, and last year’s standards are now the new baseline.
This year’s GCSE pupils were in year 7 when the first lockdown began. Maths, physics and combined science students were given exam aids for one final year due to the ongoing impact of pandemic disruption.
‘Dependable and trustworthy results’
Sir Ian Bauckham, the chief regulator, said “consistent, rigorous standards of grading are producing consistent results.
“It is evidence that we have settled back into a pattern of dependable and trustworthy results.”
The grade 5 pass rate – considered a “strong pass” – increased by 0.4 per cent from 54.4 per cent last year to 54.6 per cent. This is also higher than in 2019 (53.5 per cent).
The grade 4 pass rate – considered a “standard pass” – increased by 0.1 per cent from 70.3 per cent last year to 70.4 per cent this year. Again, this is higher than in 2019 (69.9 per cent).
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said: “Congratulations to each and every young person receiving their results today and thank you to the dedicated teachers and staff who have worked tirelessly to guide and support them.”
She said pupils had shown “remarkable resilience and determination, defying unprecedented disruption throughout the pandemic, RAAC and strike action”.
Drop in English and maths grade 4s
In English, the proportion of 16-year-old pupils attaining a grade 4 or above fell 0.6 per cent, from 71.6 per cent last year to 71.2 per cent this year. In maths, the proportion fell from 72.3 to 72 per cent.
Pupils who don’t get a grade 4 in English or maths have to continue to study the subjects in sixth form or college.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the ASCL leaders’ union, said the results were the “culmination of a great deal of hard work in often challenging circumstances and it is a huge achievement that so many young people will now progress with confidence onto courses in colleges and sixth forms”.
However, he said “we must recognise that this is not the story in England for a significant proportion of students who fall short of achieving at least a grade 4 GCSE pass in English and maths”.
These pupils “will be consigned to a remorseless treadmill of resits in post-16 education under rules drawn up by the last government”.
‘Unacceptable regional disparities’
But the results still show an “unacceptable, entrenched regional disparities we have seen time and time again”.
Catherine McKinnell, the schools minister, also said she was “deeply concerned about the inequalities in our education system with where you live and what type of school you attend still being too big an influence on your opportunities”.
This year 28.5 per cent of grades issued in London were at grade 7 or above, compared to just 17.8 per cent in the north east, where both Phillipson and McKinnell serve as MPs.
That gap of 10.7 percentage points is down slightly from 10.8 per cent last year, but remains higher than pre-pandemic 2019 (9.3 per cent).
“That is why we are committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity – including by delivering a broader, richer curriculum – and ensuring that young people in all corners of our country can reach their potential,” Phillipson added.
In two regions, the proportion top grades or above actually decreased this year. In the east of England, 21.4 per cent of grades were at 7 or above, down 2.3 per cent from 21.9 per cent last year.
In the East Midlands, the proportion of top grades fell from 18.5 to 18.3 per cent, a drop of 1.1 per cent.
NRT: English down, maths up, but no grading changes
Ofqual has also published a digest of this year’s national reference test results. The NRT is taken by a sample of students each year to monitor pupil performance over time and inform GCSE grading.
Like last year, the 2024 test found a “statistically significant downward change” at grade 4 in English when compared with 2017, the year the NRT came into force.
However, no adjustment was made to grading because “given the context in recent years following the pandemic, we do not consider that there is sufficient evidence of a genuine decline in performance such that we should make a downwards adjustment this summer”.
In maths, there was also a “statistically significant upward change at grade 7”.
However, outcomes in maths are “similar to those seen in 2019”, when Ofqual opted not to make an adjustment.
At the time, the regulator “considered that the increase relative to 2017 was likely due to the sawtooth effect and the improvements that we might expect in the first few years that a qualification is available”.
“To make an adjustment now would be rewarding a level of performance that we have previously decided not to (because we were not confident that it reflected a genuine improvement in attainment).”
Grammars and private schools still top
Grammar schools continue to outperform all other types of school, with 60.3 per cent of grades issued to their pupils at a 7 or above.
This compares to 48.4 per cent at private schools, 21.6 per cent at free schools, 21.2 per cent at academies, 19.4 per cent at secondary comprehensives and 12.6 per cent at non-selective schools in grammar school areas – known as secondary moderns.
