Strong performances in maths and sciences have helped produce the best set of A-level results since 2010 if the figures for 2020 and 2021, which were distorted by the Covid pandemic, are discounted.
In maths, a record 42% of more than 100,000 candidates – a new UK record – gained A* or As, and a third of entrants received the highest grades in physics and chemistry.
England saw 27.6% of students get A* or As, up from 26.5% in 2023. In Wales, 29.9% of students achieved this compared with 34% last year and in Northern Ireland 30.3% achieved A* or A as opposed to 37.5% last year. Although the proportion of top grades fell in Wales and Northern Ireland compared with last year, both sets of figures were higher than in 2019.
In England alone, 9.3% of entries gained A* grades, while 27.6% got A and A*s.
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Ian Baukham, the head of Ofqual, England’s exam regulator, said the results were “broadly similar” to those of 2023. He added: “A-levels are highly trusted qualifications. Students can be confident their results will be valued and understood by employers and universities for years to come.”
Lynne Neagle, the education secretary for Wales, said: “The results are what we hoped to see and are broadly similar to pre-pandemic outcomes.”
Eighteen-year-olds in Scotland – which uses “highers” rather than A-levels – received their results last week. Overall, A-C pass rates for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher fell by 2% compared with 2023 at 74.9%. In 2019 the figure was 74.8%.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson told the BBC this morning she was committed to “break down barriers to opportunity” as witnessed by the regional and social inequalities in how the results were distributed. There was a lower proportion gaining grade C or above compared with most pre-pandemic years.
After congratulating students, Phillipson said she was concerned that the difference in grades achieved by students from different backgrounds – the attainment gap – was still getting wider and that her government was “absolutely determined to make a difference there” going forward.
At private schools, 49.4% of entries were awarded A or A* grades, up from 45% in 2019. Grades at state grammar schools in England also rose, with A and A*s rising from 37% in 2019 to 41% this year. Academies in England increased their top grades to 26.5% of entries, while England’s remaining comprehensives increased A and A* from 20% to 22%.
Pepe Di’Iasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “While the dark days of the pandemic are in the past, its legacy continues to haunt us. In particular, this impacted upon young people from disadvantaged backgrounds whose families were also adversely affected by the subsequent cost-of-living crisis.”
Universities reported that record numbers of applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds being accepted on undergraduate courses starting this autumn. The Ucas admissions service said that 27,600 18-year-olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds had accepted a place, above the previous high in 2021.
Vivienne Stern, the chief executive of Universities UK, said: “Universities are on hand to support anyone who has not received the grades they were hoping for, or any prospective student who needs advice. There are still a wide variety of courses available through clearing this year at a range of universities.”
More than 250,000 vocational and technical qualifications were awarded, with more than 22,000 top grades awarded in England, according to Ofqual, while more than 7,000 students were awarded T-levels in England, with nearly 89% gaining a pass or better in the new technical qualification.
Maths remained the most popular A-level subject overall; 107,427 students took the subject in 2024 – a 10.9% increase from the year before. However, girls made up only 37.2% of the total cohort, although the total number of girls studying the subject at A-level increased by 9.5% to 39,943.
This year saw a 28.6% increase in the number of female students taking computing. Since 2019, the number of female computing A-level students has more than doubled from 1,475 to 3,556 students.
Mairead O’Connor, practice operations director at cloud-based service provider Node4 said: “Despite the number of girls studying computing growing year on year, the pool of female students remains small. The stereotype of computing being a male-dominated world remains, which is off-putting to young women.
“Diversity is essential to innovation so we can’t afford to take our foot off the accelerator. The progress being made to encourage more girls into the industry is great but we still have a long way to go to achieve the equal and diverse workforce we need.”
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