A Level Results Grades Down Over The Past Two Years But Up From Pre Pandemic Levels

Hundreds of thousands of pupils find out their marks across England, Wales and Northern Ireland on Thursday. These students were the first to re-sit their A-level exams after official exams were canceled for two years in a row during the Covid pandemic. The overall pass rate dropped to 98.4 percent this year from 99.5 percent in 2021, when grades were awarded by teachers. But it has increased since the last time students sat A-level exams in 2019, when the proportion of entries who knew A* to E grades was 97.6 per cent. Entries receiving top A* and A grades are also down this year compared to 2021, falling from 44.8 per cent to 36.4 per cent. But again, this is up on the previous exam year, when 25.4 per cent of grades received top marks. The education secretary had warned students that their grades could be lower than expected or expected as efforts to curb inflation came into force. Students received their test results on Thursday morning (PA) Exam boards were asked to make grades lower than last year – when a record number of students received A grades or above – but still higher than before the Covid pandemic. The rate for the highest A* grade fell to 14.6 per cent this year from 19.1 per cent in 2021, according to the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), but remained higher than 7.7 per cent in 2019. Meanwhile, the proportion of A* to C-graded entries fell from 88.5 per cent in 2021 to 82.6 per cent this year, although it is up from 75.9 per cent in 2019. The pass rate and proportion of top marks awarded have increased since the last time students took the exam (PA) Girls continued to outperform boys overall, with A* to E grades at 98.7 per cent for the former, compared to 98.1 per cent for the latter, according to the JCQ. “As predicted, these results are higher than the last set of summer exams in 2019, but lower than last year’s teacher-assessed grades,” said Kath Thomas from the JCQ. “This reflects the special arrangements put in place to support students, schools and colleges in yet another challenging year due to Covid.” The percentage of entries with top grades has fallen since last year – but is up since the last time students took the exam in 2019 (PA Graphics) (PA Graphics) Dr Jo Saxton, head of England’s exams regulator, said she “felt strongly that it would not be right” to return to pre-pandemic grading levels in one fell swoop – but that a return to normalcy was needed. The first group of students to take the new T-level technical qualification also received their results today, with a pass rate of around 92 per cent. Many of them are moving on to their first job or an apprenticeship, while around a third have been placed on a university programme, according to the government. A near-record number of students are progressing to university from this year’s cohort (PA) Education unions are paying tribute to pupils and teachers who worked to achieve the grades after more than two years of disruption – which included the cancellation of GCSEs for the cohort who sat exams this year. “These grades reflect the conditions in which the exams were conducted and it would be wrong and completely inaccurate to compare these results with previous years or to make comparisons about performance against previous cohorts of students,” said Dr Patrick Roach from the NASUWT-The. said the Teachers Union. Geoff Barton from the Association for School and College Leaders said: “It is likely that outcomes at school, college and student level will be uneven due to the highly variable impact of the pandemic with those most affected by infections potentially performing less well. from others.” He added: “This is not a normal year by any means and it is important that we focus on supporting pupils’ progress rather than focusing too much on grades.” A near-record number of students were accepted to their preferred or second-choice university on A-level results day. Ucas said a total of 425,830 students got the grades they needed for their choice of company or insurance university – the second highest rate to date after a record high in 2021. Hundreds of thousands of students discovered results today (PA) Chris Hale, chief executive of Universities UK, said: “It is exciting to once again see such large numbers of applicants continuing their journey into higher education, confirming the strong appeal of our universities.” He added: “The students applying this year have faced many years of disrupted education and they and their families should be extremely proud of their achievements.” Dr Tim Bradshaw, chief executive of the selective Russell group of universities, said: “It’s fantastic to see the number of young people securing university places in 2019 as last year’s exams took place, amongst some of the most disadvantaged.” The number of students from the most disadvantaged entering university courses was around 3,000 higher this year compared to 2019, according to Ucas. Dr Bradshaw said it had been a “competitive year for imports” as things returned to normal after the Covid pandemic. “Over the coming weeks our admissions teams will be working hard to place as many young people as possible at our universities, while ensuring that every student can receive the world-class teaching and learning experience they rightly expect,” he said. Here are the key stats from this year’s A-level results:

The proportion of A or A* grades is 36.4 per cent – up from 44.8 per cent in 2021 but up from 25.4 per cent in 2019. Just under 15 per cent got an A* – up from 19 per cent in 2021, but up from around 8 per cent in 2019. The overall pass rate – grades A* to E – was 98.4 per cent, compared to 99.5 per cent in 2021 and 97.6 per cent in 2019. About 83 percent received a C or above. This was 88.5 percent in 2021 and 76 percent in 2019. The achievement gap between girls and boys has narrowed, with 37.4 per cent of girls receiving top grades compared to 35.2 per cent of boys – a difference of 2.2 percentage points. Last year, girls outscored boys by 4.8 percentage points. English literature saw the biggest drop in applicants for a single subject, down 9.4 per cent from last year. A total of 848,910 A-levels were awarded, up 2.9 per cent from 824,718 last year.

title: “A Level Results Grades Down Over The Past Two Years But Up From Pre Pandemic Levels Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-19” author: “Brandon Miller”

title: “A Level Results Grades Down Over The Past Two Years But Up From Pre Pandemic Levels Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-03” author: “David Sills”

title: “A Level Results Grades Down Over The Past Two Years But Up From Pre Pandemic Levels Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-13” author: “James Simpson”