The proportion of GCSE entries awarded top grades fell from last year but was higher than before the Covid-19 pandemic, national figures showed.
Hundreds of thousands of teenagers across the country received their GCSE exam results on Thursday in a year when efforts have been made in England to return grading to pre-pandemic levels.
More than a fifth (22.0 per cent) of UK GCSE entries were awarded the top grades – at least a 7 or an A grade – this year, down by 4.3 percentage points on last year when 26.3 per cent of entries achieved the top grades. This remains higher than the equivalent figure for 2019 – before the pandemic – of 20.8 per cent.
In London, 28.4 per cent of entries were awarded top grades, significantly higher than the national figure.
This remained 4.2 percentage points down on last year, which saw 32.6 per cent of entries achieve top grades, but higher than the 2019 figure of 25.7 per cent.
Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, there were around 203,000 fewer top grades compared with last year, but there were 142,000 more top grades awarded this year than in 2019, according to the figures published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ).
