Rise in top grades shows pupils have bounced back from the pandemic

Pupils in England who were thought to have been among the worst affected by Covid have bounced back in their GCSE results, with more achieving top grades despite the disruption of the pandemic.

- Sally Weale Richard Adams Pamela Duncan

Fears had been raised that this cohort would be severely affected by having key stage 2 tests cancelled in the final year of primary school, when the pandemic hit in 2020, disrupting their transition to secondary school.

However, the results published yesterday showed 23% of entries for 16-year-olds in England were awarded grades 7 or above, up from 22.6% last year, with boys improving their performance, though a higher proportion of girls continue to achieve top grades overall.

In the key compulsory subjects of maths and English there were fewer encouraging signs, with the percentage of 16-year-old pupils achieving at least a grade 4 in English falling from 71.2% last year to 70.6%. In maths there was a slight decline, from 72% last year to 71.9% achieving grade 4 or better.

Government policy in England means that teenagers who fail to gain at least a grade 4 "standard pass" must undertake resits while they remain in formal education. But this year's results revealed that fewer of those resitting were reaching grade 4 after multiple attempts, leading critics of the policy to label it a "crisis" that is damaging young people.

For pupils in Northern Ireland, the proportion getting A and A* - equivalent to grades 7 and above in England - rose by a full percentage point to 31.4%, while the proportion getting grades C or above went up to 63.8%.