A-level top grades reach record high nationally outside of Covid years
The proportion of A-level entries awarded top grades rose again this year, remaining above pre-pandemic highs, national figures show.
Students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their exam results on Thursday, with many finding out if they would progress to university, an apprenticeship or work.
More than a quarter (28.3 per cent) of UK entries were awarded an A or A* grade, up by 0.5 percentage points on last year, when 27.8 per cent achieved the top grades.
This was higher than in 2019, the last year that summer exams were taken before the pandemic, when 25.4 per cent of entries were awarded A or A* grades.
It is the highest proportion of entries scoring top grades outside the pandemic-affected years of 2020-22, according to the figures from the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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Boys have outperformed girls in terms of top grades for the first time in seven years.
The proportion of UK entries awarded the top A* grade this year has also risen, by 0.1 percentage points to 9.4 per cent, compared to 9.3 per cent in 2024, and it is higher than when it stood at 7.7 per cent in 2019.
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 that 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.
In an interview about the A-level results, 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.”
Also boys have outperformed girls in top A-level grades for the first time in seven years, exam results show.
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’ – a gap of 0.2 percentage points.
The last time boys had a lead was in 2018.
Last year, girls were ahead with 28 per cent of entries scoring at least an A, compared to 27.6 per cent of those from boys, according to figures published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ).
Exam bosses acknowledged the swing towards boys but said the difference between the sexes is “pretty small”.
There are more A-level entries overall from girls than boys, the figures show, with females making up 54 per cent of all entries.
Claire Thomson, executive director of regulation and compliance at the AQA exam board, said that while the percentage of girls achieving A*-A grades is lower this year than their male counterparts, overall, nearly 19,000 more females achieved at least an A due to more girls entering for A-levels in general.
She said: “It is important not to speculate too much about what has led to any differences between males and females as the figures are small, they do bounce around a bit over time and the causes will be multi-faceted and complex.”
A breakdown by subject shows there is still a clear gender divide in some subjects, such as maths, where nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of entries are from boys.