By Sheila Mckenzie-
The number of top grades at A-level has fallen sharply this year following a return to examinations, with warnings about large regional variations and a “stark” divide between the state sector and private schools, where pupils were almost twice as likely to get an A or A*.
Hundreds of thousands of pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their results on Thursday.
The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) said the overall pass rate – the proportion of entries graded A* to E – fell by 1.1 percentage points from 99.5% in 2021 to 98.4% this year. University admissions have also fallen on last year, but are the second highest on record, according to Ucas figures. Pandemic effect has been blamed for the relative fall in top grades which were nevertheless high,
Noted is the fact that this cohort received teacher-assessed GCSEs, followed by a first year of post-16 study limited by prolonged periods of school and college closures. Grades this year were agreed to be set somewhere between pre-pandemic levels and those of 2021, when teacher assessments led to record high grades.
Entries receiving the top grades of A* and A are down 8.4 points from 44.8% last year to 36.4% – but up 11.0 points on 25.4% in 2019. Statistical figures for the highest grade, A* was down year-on-year from 19.1% to 14.6%, but remains higher than in 2019 when it stood at 7.7%.
The proportion of entries graded A* to C dropped from 88.5% in 2021 to 82.6% this year, though it is up from 75.9% in 2019. Ofqual revealed that the attainment gap between the more affluent London and south-east regions and the north-east is growing, with the gap standing at 8 percentage points.
“Students in the north-east are no less capable but after 12 years of Conservative governments they’re seeing their results go backwards compared to their peers across the south of England,” said the shadow education secretary, Bridget Phillipson.
In England just under 36% of A-level entries gained A and A* grades this year, compared with 44.3% last year. The number of high-flyers who got three A*s at A-level has also gone down, from 12,865 last year to 8,570.
Pupils from poor backgrounds are believed to have suffered further disadvantages in this year A levels exams, due to the long term effects of the pandemic.
Unequal access to technology or safe and quiet places to study has been cited as one of the key set backs to pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Despite obvious disadvantages, a number of researchers have concluded that coming from a disadvantaged background does not adequately explain lack of access to technology, irresponsible parentage generally explain it better.
Many parents from poor background can afford to purchase a second hand laptop for their children for £60-£70 if they really want to do so from their state benefits, and a fair number from poor backgrounds have achieved laptops for their children one way or another. Children from poor backgrounds also generally have mobile phones from which they can access the internet and use to enhance their learning, but a larger fraction have struggled with finding a quiet space for study.
Independent Schools
Pupils attending independent schools have more advantages overall. The comfort of an ambient environment at home, brilliant and thorough teaching at school by highly paid academics, and the added benefit of top private tuition in many cases which contributes immeasurably to the academic ability
On that measure results overall are higher than pre-pandemic levels, with the proportion of As and A*s up from 25.4% in 2019 to 36.4%, and in the three years since exams were last sat the share of A*s has gone up by almost seven percentage points, from 7.7% to 14.6%.
Meanwhile more than 20,300 students who applied to university are without a place, after the number accepted on to UK degree courses fell by 2%, according to figures published by the universities admissions service Ucas.
A total of 425,830 people have had places confirmed so far, the second highest on record, up 16,870 compared with 2019, when exams were last held, but many students will be disappointed, having been caught out in what has been a much more competitive admissions cycle, amid uncertainty about grades with the reintroduction of exams.
The Ucas chief executive, Clare Marchant, said: “While many will be celebrating today, there will be some who are disappointed. My advice is to take advantage of the wide range of choices on offer, which includes over 27,000 courses in clearing, along with a range of apprenticeship opportunities.”
University admissions teams reported high levels of interest in clearing, a process that matches unplaced students with unfilled courses.
Ella Kirkbride, the head of admissions at the University of Hull, said: “As predicted, it’s been a very busy clearing so far. From early this morning, we have seen a significant increase in calls compared to the past two years, with clearing enquiries up this morning by 286% on last year.”
Many of those students had received better results than expected. “They are relieved that they have not been faced with the kind of disappointing results that they were really concerned about as a result of all the speculation and uncertainty. In fact they have achieved Bs and Cs – and are very well prepared to go through the clearing process,” she said.
Some students complained about unpredictability in results. Will, 18, who attended a state grammar in Bradford, achieved grades AAB and missed out on his firm offer at Newcastle but was accepted at Royal Holloway, University of London, to study psychology.
“Many friends who had excelled throughout the whole two years and who had revised a massive amount to account for poor Covid teaching ended up dropping three to four grades from what they were predicted or what they achieved in mock exams,” he said.
Dr Jo Saxton, the chief regulator of Ofqual, said this year’s results were pitched broadly midway between 2021 and 2019 and marked a staging post on the return to pre-pandemic grade levels next summer.