After the disruption caused to education by the pandemic, this is the first year since 2019 in which school leavers have sat traditional A-level exams. Normally, 26 per cent of A-level students are marked A or higher: last year it jumped to 45 per cent after teacher-assessed grades were brought in. Now it’s 36 per cent, as per the government’s plan to mark a halfway house between last year’s grade hyperinflation and normality. But A* grades, normally reserved for the top 8 per cent of pupils, have been handed to 15 per cent. This is slightly down on last year’s 19 per cent.
It is clear that the attainment gap between pupils in the north and south of the country is still a sticking point
For the first time in ten years (in a full, externally assessed exam season), girls have outperformed boys when it comes to getting A* A-level grades.
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