Top GCSE Grades Fall but Remain Above Pre-Lockdown Levels

Pupils at Brighton College receiving their GCSE results in Brighton, England, on August 22, 2024. Gareth Fuller/PA

The proportion of top GCSE grades awarded this year has fallen compared with 2023, but it is still higher than pre-lockdown levels, results released on Thursday have shown.

Across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, 16-year-olds are receiving their GCSE results in the first year that all three nations have returned their grading regimes to pre-COVID-19 standards.

In 2024, more than one-fifth (21.8 percent) of GCSE entries across the UK were awarded the top grades—at least a 7 or an A—which is down on 2023 when 22 percent achieved the highest marks.

However, 2024’s results are higher than the 2019 figure of 20.8 percent.

According to figures published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), the proportion of entries getting a “standard pass”—a 4 in England or a C in Wales and Northern Ireland—has fallen from 68.2 percent in 2023 to 67.6 percent this year, but still higher than 67.3 percent in 2019.

Chief Executive of the JCQ Margaret Farragher said, “These achievements are hard-earned and students should feel justly proud to have reached this important milestone in their educational journey.”

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson likewise congratulated pupils on their achievements, saying they “have shown remarkable resilience and determination, defying unprecedented disruption throughout the pandemic, Raac [reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete] and strike action.”

Lockdowns

During the COVID-19 lockdown era, the government closed schools and shifted to remote learning.

Not only was in-class teaching disrupted, but so were assessments, with final results being based on teacher assessments instead of exams, leading to an increase in top GCSE and A-level grades in 2020 and 2021.

In England, assessments returned to normal in 2023, with Northern Ireland and Wales returning to pre-lockdown standards this summer.

Sir Ian Bauckham, chief regulator of Ofqual, 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.”

Many of the pupils receiving their GCSE results were in Year 7 when governments closed schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Leading figures in the education sector have warned that this cohort have had to experience a series of challenges in the following years related to Raac issues—which resulted in fears of school buildings collapsing—strikes, and lockdowns.

Others have warned that those who started school during lockdown will be particularly affected.

The Nuffield Foundation think tank said in April that lockdown-induced school closures will “significantly damage” the educational prospects of children who started school during the COVID-19 period. The report also said teachers had reported greater behavioural and mental health problems in the classroom since lockdown.

Government figures from March showed that the number of unauthorised absences from schools in England increased in 2022/2023 and was nearly double the rate from before the lockdowns.

Regional Disparities

Regional disparities in achieving the highest grades persist between the north and south of England. London saw the highest proportion of entries awarded grades 7 or above (28.5 percent) with the northeast having the lowest (17.8 percent).

However, this gap narrowed marginally to 10.7 points while in 2023 it was 10.8 percent.

Pepe Di'Iaiso, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said of the “significant differences” in regional outcomes, “This suggests that relative levels of prosperity and socioeconomic disadvantage continue to play a huge part in educational outcomes, and addressing these gaps must be a key priority for the new government working alongside the education sector.”

Di'Iaiso added that more has to be done to support schools and colleges, saying, “Funding and teacher shortages, combined with post-pandemic issues around mental health, behaviour and attendance, have made circumstances particularly challenging.”

GCSE entries awarded 7/A by nation & region. PA Wire

Gender Gap

Like with A-level results, the lead girls have over boys for the top grades has narrowed slightly, with the total of girls awarded 7/A or above being 24.7 percent, 5.7 points higher than boys (19 percent).

This is the narrowest lead held by girls since 2009, when it was also 5.7 percent.

In 2023, girls led boys by 24.9 percent to 19.1 percent, a gap of 5.8 percent.

The most popular subjects were, unsurprisingly, the mandatory subjects: English language, mathematics, and double science.

Among subjects with more than 100,000 entries, business studies saw the largest percent increase, up 9.7 percent from 123,166 in 2023 to 135,090 this year.

Scotland, which has National 5 qualifications instead of GCSEs, saw earlier this month the pass rate at 77.2 percent, down from 78.8 percent last year and 78.2 in 2019.

Last week, students in England, Scotland, and Wales received their A-level results, with the proportion of candidates receiving top grades in their A-Level exams has increased on last year, with more than one-quarter (27.8 percent) getting As and A*s.

PA Media contributed to this report.