Boys outperform girls in A-levels for first time in years

Top grades rise again as record number accepted into uni

- TARA COBHAM

A-level top grades have risen again to reach a record high outside of the Covid years, while a record number of students have been accepted onto UK degree courses.

Hundreds of thousands of pupils across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland discovered their exam results yesterday morning, 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 - and marks 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.

Meanwhile, Ucas figures show that, for 18-year-olds in the UK, 255,130 applicants have been accepted onto a university or college course – up 4.7 per cent on last year. Overall, 82 per cent of UK 18-year-old applicants awaiting a decision on results day secured their first choice, which was the same proportion as last year. 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, and it is higher than when it stood at 7.7 per cent in 2019.

However, the gap between the proportion of A-level entries in London awarded the highest grades and those in northeast England now stands at 9.2 percentage points, up from 7.4 points last year - and the largest since the present system of grading began in 2010, according to analysis.