Prime A-level outcomes fall in return to pre-pandemic grading system
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ens of hundreds fewer high A-level grades have been handed out to college students this yr following efforts to convey outcomes again right down to pre-pandemic ranges.
Students throughout the nation acquired their A-level outcomes two years after they got teacher-assessed grades for GCSEs as an alternative of sitting exams.
Some 73,000 fewer high A-level grades have been awarded in England, Wales and Northern Ireland than final yr – however there have been round 32,000 extra high grades awarded this yr than in 2019, examination boards stated.
As A-level outcomes have been printed, separate Ucas figures confirmed that the variety of candidates accepted on to UK diploma programs has fallen this yr however it’s up on 2019 – the yr earlier than the pandemic.
Ucas stated 79% of 18-year-old candidates from the UK have secured their first selection, which is down from 81% final yr however up from 74% in 2019.
Overall, greater than 1 / 4 (27.2%) of UK A-level entries have been awarded an A or A* grade, down by 9.2 proportion factors on final yr when 36.4% achieved the highest grades.
However, this was nonetheless greater than in 2019 – the final yr that summer season exams have been taken earlier than the pandemic – when 25.4% of entries have been awarded A or A* grades.
But the outcomes confirmed regional variations in attainment, which prompted considerations from social mobility specialists that sure cohorts of scholars have confronted larger challenges on account of the pandemic.
The general go price – the proportion of entries graded A* to E – dropped to 97.3% this yr, which is decrease than 2022 (98.4%) and the pre-pandemic yr of 2019 (97.6%).
The A*-E go price is at its lowest degree since 2008 when it stood at 97.2%, in keeping with the figures printed by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) which cowl England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Speaking on A-level outcomes day, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan stated the pupils receiving their grades on Thursday are unlikely to be requested for the outcomes by employers in 10 years’ time.
Labour’s shadow training secretary Bridget Phillipson referred to as the feedback “incredibly rude and dismissive” on a “nerve-racking day” for younger individuals.
She stated: “It really does add insult to injury coming a Government that completely failed to put in place the kind of support that our young people needed coming out of the pandemic, after all of the disruption they’d experienced.”
Ms Keegan rejected the suggestion that the feedback have been insensitive, including: “It’s an important step to get to your next destination, but when you’re a couple of destinations further on there’ll be other things that they look at.”
In England, exams regulator Ofqual had stated this yr’s A-level outcomes can be decrease than final yr and they might be much like these in 2019 as a part of its efforts to return to pre-pandemic grading this yr.
It comes after Covid-19 led to a rise in high grades in 2020 and 2021, with outcomes primarily based on trainer assessments as an alternative of exams.
In Wales and Northern Ireland, outcomes are anticipated to return to pre-pandemic ranges subsequent yr.
Many A-level college students in each international locations got advance details about matters to count on of their examination papers this summer season, however pupils in England weren’t given the identical assist.
In Wales, 34.0% of entries have been awarded an A or A* grade, in comparison with 26.5% in 2019, and in Northern Ireland 37.5% of entries have been awarded the highest grades, in comparison with 29.4% in 2019.
Overall, in England, 26.5% of entries have been awarded an A or A* grade, in comparison with 25.2% in 2019.
A complete of three,820 college students in England scored three A* grades, figures from Ofqual present. This is down from 8,570 final yr, however up from 2,785 in 2019.
Ofqual stated it constructed safety into the grading course of in England this yr to recognise the disruption that college students have confronted, which ought to have enabled a pupil to get the grade they might have acquired earlier than the pandemic even when the standard of their work is somewhat bit weaker on account of disruption.
Geoff Barton, common secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), stated the return to pre-pandemic grading in England will “feel like a bruising experience” for a lot of college students, colleges and schools who can have seen “a sharp dip” in high grades in comparison with the previous three years.
He stated: “It is important to remember that these students also suffered the disruption of the pandemic, and this will have impacted particularly on those from disadvantaged backgrounds.”
Speaking about this yr’s outcomes, Jo Saxton, chief regulator of Ofqual, stated they’d “absolutely dealt with grade inflation” which she argued had “not worked in the interests of students”.
She instructed the PA news company: “Whilst there are higher top grades than there were in 2019, it’s a narrow margin.
“We’re looking at around a percentage point on 2019 in the top grades. So there’s no doubt that we have reinstated 2019 arrangements.
“There’s also proof in that percentage point of higher top grades that protection, which I promised the young people, has been delivered.”
An evaluation by PA confirmed that the North East and Yorkshire & the Humber are the one two areas of England the place the proportion of A-level entries awarded the highest grades is decrease this yr than in 2019.
Dr Saxton added that it was necessary to recognise there have been “long-standing differences” in outcomes between areas in England which “predate the pandemic by a country mile”.
Boys leapfrogged ladies to attain extra of the very high A-level grades this yr.
Overall, 9.1% of boys’ entries scored an A* grade, in contrast with 8.8% of women’ entries – a 0.3 proportion level hole.
This reverses a latest development as ladies have been forward within the high consequence for the earlier three years.
But regardless of boys taking on at A* grades, ladies proceed to outperform their male counterparts by way of A*-A.
Economics gained a spot within the high 10 hottest A-level topics within the UK for the primary time this yr – taking ninth place general, forward of physics and pushing geography out of the listing.
The rise in recognition could possibly be as a result of college students really feel it’s related to trendy challenges and points reminiscent of local weather change and the elevated use of synthetic intelligence, it has been urged.
The figures additionally confirmed a surge in recognition for computing at A-level- it has seen the most important improve in take-up this yr in comparison with different topics.
In England, greater than 3,400 college students acquired their T-level leads to the second yr that the Government’s flagship qualification has been awarded – and 90.5% achieved no less than a go.
More than 378,000 outcomes have been additionally issued to college students who took vocational and technical {qualifications} (VTQs).
Pupils in Scotland acquired their outcomes final week and the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) figures confirmed that the Higher go price was down from final yr, however it remained above 2019 ranges.