The proportion of A*s achieved by England’s students has risen by eight per cent as the post-Covid grading standard emerges.
This year, 27.6 per cent of grades were A or above, up from 26.5 per cent in 2023 – a rise of 4 per cent. It’s also nearly 10 per cent higher than the 25.2 per cent in pre-pandemic 2019.
But the proportion of A* grades has increased 8 per cent on last year – equating to a 20 per cent rise since pre-pandemic 2019.
Meanwhile, there’s been a huge 50 per cent rise in students getting three A*s since the pandemic.
Last year was the first that grades were pulled back to pre-pandemic standards after a rise when exams were cancelled during Covid.
This year’s A-level students were in year 9 when the pandemic hit. They were the first cohort to take GCSEs after they were brought back.
Ofqual explained the rise by saying they asked exam boards to “maintain standards” from 2023, essentially meaning that is now the new grading benchmark.
It means the “standard of work required to get any particular grade” is the same as last year, chief regulator Sir Ian Bauckham 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.”
Huge leap in kids getting three A*s
Looking at A* grades only, these have risen from 8.6 per cent in 2023, to 9.3 per cent this year, an 8 per cent rise. It’s also 20 per cent more than the 7.7 per cent of A*s achieved in pre-pandemic 2019.
The number of students getting 3 A*s has soared by nearly 50 per cent since the pandemic, up from 2,785 in 2019, to 4,135 this year. The number of entries has increased since 2019, but only by 11 per cent.
Of those getting three A*s this year, 57 per cent were girls and 43 per cent boys.
In 2019, top grades slumped to their lowest since 2007.
Bauckham added: “Congratulations to all students receiving their results today. This is the culmination of a lot of hard work for them and everyone who supported them on the way.
“A-levels are highly trusted qualifications. Students can be confident their results will be valued and understood by employers and universities for years to come.”
Overall, the proportion of C grades and above this year was 76 per cent, slightly up on 75.4 per cent last year and 75.5 per cent in 2019.
Regional attainment gap widens
The regional attainment gap has increased slightly this year. London had the highest proportion of A* and A grades (31.8 per cent), compared to 22.5 per cent in the East Midlands, the lowest.
This is a gap of 8.8 percentage points, slightly wider than the gap between the highest and lowest attaining regions in 2023. In 2019, the gap was 7.3 percentage points.
Thirty per cent of grades in London were A or above this year, a 3.1 percentage point rise on 2019. Meanwhile, the north east had just 22 per cent of top grades, a 1 percentage point fall since 2019.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “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”.
The “wide gaps” in attainment between English regions are a “sign of the deep inequalities in our society, and we welcome the new government’s focus on tackling child poverty and disadvantage. This work will need to produce tangible results sooner rather than later.”
Nearly half of grades in independent schools were A and above, compared to 26.5 per cent in academies and 22.3 per cent in secondary comprehensives.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said students should be “incredibly proud of what they have achieved”.
“Young people deserve enormous credit for what they have achieved, in the face of both the huge disruption of recent years, and in too many cases the inequality that goes hand in hand with young people’s backgrounds,” she said.
“I am determined to break down these barriers to opportunity so every young person can pursue their dreams and thrive.”
More poorer pupils land uni spot
Despite this, UCAS data shows the proportion of students from the poorest backgrounds securing a university place has risen to 19.6 per cent, up from 18.7 per cent last year but slightly down from 19.9 per cent in 2022.
Margaret Farragher, chief executive of JCQ, which represents exam boards, said: “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.
“I would also like to recognise and thank exams officers and teachers for supporting students with their assessments. They have once again helped to deliver a smooth and successful exam series, evident from today’s results.”
There were a total of 816,948 A-level entries this year, up from 797,352 last year (a 2.5 per cent rise) and 736,746 in 2019.
