A-level results: Top grades rise for the third year in a row

A total of 28.5 per cent of UK entries were awarded either an A or A*, up 0.2 percentage points from last year, and above the 25.4 per cent in 2019.

This is the highest proportion on record outside the pandemic-affected years of 2020-22, when the figure peaked at 44.8 per cent in 2021.

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Some 9.6 per cent of all UK exam entries received an A*, the third increase in a row, up from 9.4 per cent last year.

A-level results laid out for students to collect at Abingdon School (Image: Abingdon School)

Discounting the pandemic-affected years of 2020-22 – when the figure peaked at 19.1 per cent in 2021 – 9.6 per cent is the highest proportion since the A* grade was first awarded in 2010.

Similarly on the up, a total of 78.4 per cent of entries received a C or above, an increase of 0.5 percentage points on last year.

This is again the highest percentage for this level of grade outside the pandemic.

The overall pass rate, grades A* to E, was 97.5 per cent, unchanged from last year and just slightly lower than 2019, which was 97.6 per cent.

The gap is growing, however, between the best-performing and worst-performing regions, with London seeing the highest proportion of entries awarded grades of A or A* at 37.2 per cent, up from 32.1 per cent last year.

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But the north-east of England and the East Midlands had the joint lowest proportion of the top grades awarded, with just 23.1 per cent.

The East Midlands saw the largest year-on-year fall, down 0.7 points from 23.8 per cent, while north-east England rose slightly by 0.2 points, up from 22.9 per cent.

The 9.6 percentage point gap between London and the North East, and between London and the East Midlands, is the largest between these pairs of regions since the present system of grading began in 2010, according to Press Association analysis of results data.

Boys have extended their lead over girls in the top grades, after last year leading over girls by 0.2 per centage points.

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The proportion of boys’ entries awarded A or A* this year was 28.9 per cent, 0.9 percentage points higher than the equivalent figure for girls’ entries, at 28 per cent.

It is the second year in a row that boys have led girls in entries getting A or above, following a period from 2020-24 when girls were ahead.

But it wasn’t all change, as the most popular subject in the UK was maths, for the 13th year in a row. It had 115,380 entries, up 3.9 per cent from 111,033 in 2025.