GCSE top grades down from last year but remain above pre-pandemic levels

More than a fifth (22 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 points on last year when 26.3 per cent of entries achieved the top grades.

However, this year’s figure remains higher than its 2019 counterpart of 20.8 per cent.

The figures, published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), cover GCSE entries from students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Overall, there were around 203,000 fewer top grades (7/A) compared with last year, but there were 142,000 more top grades awarded this year than in 2019.

The proportion of entries getting at least a 4 or a C grade – considered a “standard pass” – has fallen from 73.2 per cent in 2022 to 68.2 per cent this year but remains higher than the 2019 figure of 67.3 per cent.

The overall rate for grades 1/G or above is 98 per cent, down from 98.4 per cent in 2022 and 98.3 per cent in 2019.

In England, exams regulator Ofqual said this year’s GCSE results would be lower than last year and they would be similar to those in 2019.

But Ofqual has built protection into the grading process which should enable a pupil to get the grade they would have received before the pandemic even if their quality of work is a little weaker this year.

It comes after the Covid pandemic led to an increase in top grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams.

Last week, the proportion of A-level entries achieving top grades fell – with some 73,000 fewer top A-level grades than last year – but it remained above pre-pandemic levels.

Girls continued their lead over boys for the top GCSE grades, with 24.9 per cent of entries awarded 7/A or above compared with 19.1 per cent for males.

But the gap has narrowed from last year when girls were ahead of boys by 7.4 percentage points (30 per cent girls, 22.6 per cent boys) and from 2019 when girls led by 6.5 percentage points.

It is the narrowest lead enjoyed by girls at 7/A since 2009.

The gender gap has also narrowed for entries achieving a grade 4 or above.

According to figures from Ofqual, the number of 16-year-old students in England who received a 9 – the highest grade under the numerical grading system – in all their subjects has nearly halved from last year.

Some 1,150 16-year-olds in England taking at least seven GCSEs achieved a grade 9 in all their subjects, compared with 2,193 last year and 837 in 2019.

While traditional A*-G grades are used in Northern Ireland and Wales, in England these have been replaced with a 9-1 system, where 9 is the highest.

A 4 is broadly equivalent to a C grade, and a 7 is broadly equivalent to an A.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “An enormous amount of hard work has gone into these qualifications in often difficult circumstances and the young people receiving their results today deserve great credit for what they have achieved.”

He added: “We would caution against direct comparisons between this year’s grades and those in 2019 because of the disproportionate impact of the pandemic and subsequent cost-of-living crisis on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“It is likely that the outcomes for many of these young people will be affected by these factors and this may also impact on the results of schools which serve disadvantaged communities.

“The Government has failed to grasp the gravity of this issue.

“It did not invest sufficiently in education recovery from the pandemic – causing its own recovery commissioner to resign in protest – and it has failed to address the high level of child poverty in the UK. We are concerned that this will lead to a widening of the attainment gap between rich and poor.”

Schools minister Nick Gibb acknowledged that progress on closing the attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils had “been undone” during the pandemic.

“We did achieve a 9 per cent closing of that gap for secondary and we closed the gap by 13 per cent for primary, but that has been undone, as you say, by Covid, and now we need to get back to normality,” he told the BBC.

“We’ve got the recovery programme happening in our schools right now. And then we need to get back to the reform programme to make sure that we can continue to close that gap.”

Margaret Farragher, chief executive of the JCQ, said: “This year’s results recognise the fantastic achievements of students across the country. They have worked incredibly hard throughout the pandemic period to achieve these well-earned grades.

“The 2023 results show that students are well equipped to continue their educational journey.”