A-Level Results: Nearly 45% Of Entries Across UK Awarded Top Grades

Nearly 45% of A-level entries across the UK have been awarded top grades in A-level results, a record-breaking return for students after more than a year of disruption and school closures.

The 44.8% in top grades in England, Wales and Northern Ireland matched earlier predictions by university admissions officers but was lower than others had predicted, following a 13 percentage point increase between 2019, the last time formal exams were held, and 2020.

In Northern Ireland, 50.8% of entries were awarded A* or A, up from 31% in 2019, while in Wales the proportion awarded top grades rose by more than six percentage points compared with last year, to 48.3%.

This year, A-level results in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been awarded through teacher-assessed grades (Tags) overseen by examination boards, while the Scottish Qualifications Authority will use a similar process in making awards.

Education policy is devolved to national governments, so each of the four countries have their own systems and qualifications.

In England alone, 44.3% of entries gained A* and A grades, compared with 38.1% in 2020.

Overall, 88.2% of the more than 750,000 entries by 18-year-olds in England received grades C or above, little changed for 2020 when 87.5% did so.

The figures also revealed that 12,945 sixth-formers in England gained three A*s – nearly 7% of all candidates – compared with 7,700 in 2020 and 3,000 in 2019.

Nineteen per cent of entries in England were awarded A*, compared with 14% in 2020 when grades were also assessed by schools.

The rise was fuelled partly by a record-breaking increase in grades awarded by independent schools and centres outside the state sector, where 39.5% gained the top A* grade, compared with 27.4% in 2020 and 16% in 2019.

Seventy per cent of entries at private schools received A grades or higher, compared with 39% at comprehensives and 42% at academies.

There were also wide disparities in regional results. While more than 47% of entries in London and the south of England received A* or A, 39% of those in the north-east of England did so.

The latest figures are likely to spark further questions about the unequal distribution of grades.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), representing the examination boards, said exam boards looked at student work from all types of school and college as part of the external quality assurance process.