For the third year running there has been a slight fall in the GCSE pass rate for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Overall GCSE results are similar to 2023, according to Ofqual. Outcomes at grade 7 and above were 21.7% compared with 21.6% in 2023, but outcomes at grade 4 and above were 67.4% compared with 67.8% in 2023. (of all grades at 4/C and above).
The chief regulator at Ofqual, Sir Ian Bauckham, said: “Consistent, rigorous standards of grading are producing consistent results.
“It is evidence that we have settled back into a pattern of dependable and trustworthy results.”
Regional variations and the pass rate gaps between independent and different forms of state school were a concern for Catherine McKinnell, the schools minister for England. She said: “While this is a moment to celebrate, I am deeply concerned about the inequalities in our education system, with where you live and what type of school you attend still being too big an influence on your opportunities.
“Our review of the curriculum will break down barriers and ensure art, sport, music and drama are no longer the preserve of a privileged few.”
London remains the highest-performing region in England, with 72.5% of entries marked at 4/C and above.
The West Midlands remained the lowest-performing region, where the pass rate was 63.1% – a 9.4 percentage point gap with London that was down to 6.8% in 2019.
Four out of five regions in the North and the Midlands have a lower pass rate this year than they did in 2019, whereas every region in the South has a higher pass rate.
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In terms of gender there was some encouragement taken among the GCSE results from the increasing number of female students on STEM courses.
Although proportions of girls taking STEM subjects remains low, there was a 10.3% rise in girls taking computing since last year – the number of female students is now 21,020 from 19,061 in 2023. There was also a 3.6% rise in the number of girls taking engineering – but these only make up 16.3% of total engineering students.
The subject with the biggest rise in females on courses was statistics; 20.5% more girls took statistics than last year (13,477 vs 11,187).
Female students gained the greater proportion of high marks in many STEM subjects. In computing, 35% of female students attained 7/A grades, against 26.4% for male students. For additional maths, 62% of female students attained 7/A grades, compared with 55% for male students, and in engineering 32% of female students earned 7/A grades, against 11.8% for male students.
Becky Wallace, head of people at LearnUpon, said it was encouraging to see an increase in girls studying these subjects at GCSE: “From coding to strategic thinking, arming women with the tools and competencies they need to succeed in the workplace is key to helping them succeed and navigate different pathways as the industry evolves.”
Mairead O’Connor, practice operations director at IT firm Node4, said there was a shortage of computing and engineering teachers. “People who qualify in this area are more likely to go into the industry rather than going back to school to teach. This shortage means many students passionate in this subject do not have the opportunity to follow in this path.
“We must address these challenges and invest in wider STEM subjects to ensure that all students, regardless of their background or gender, can explore and excel in computing and / or engineering if they wish to. We can’t afford to take our foot off the accelerator now – there is still a long way to go until these classrooms are equal and diverse.”
Tom Cornell, psychology consultant at HireVue, said a grade could not accurately portray a student’s ability. He advised employers to foster a skills-based approach to better identify candidates’ qualities. Businesses must not over-rely on educational qualifications that have seen extreme disruption as the sole means to assess a candidate.”
Last week, by contrast, saw the best A-level results across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, since 2010.
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