Summary
Data in this section covers A level entries and results for all students aged 16 to 18 at the start of respective year. It is not impacted by the change in the ‘trigger’ rules that determine when a student has reached the end of 16 to 18 study.
The graph below shows the distribution of A level grades for students aged 16 to 18 for each academic year. Overall, the proportion of entries achieving top grades (A*/A/B) has increased each year.
In 2020/21, 19.0% of awarded grades were at A*. This is an increase of 11.2ppts from 2018/19, and an increase of 4.8ppts from 2019/20. Similarly, the percentage of entries achieving A*-A grades has also seen large increases, rising to 44.1%. This corresponds to increases of 18.7ppts and 6.1ppts from 2018/19 and 2019/20 respectively. As previously noted however, year on year comparisons cannot be interpreted as students achieving at a higher standard. Where achievement gaps alter in 2020/21 compared to previous years, it might reflect the different process by which grades were awarded across the past three years.
A level results by gender
Overall, in 2020/21 both males and females were more likely to be awarded the higher A level grades (A*/A/B) than in 2018/19 and in 2019/20.
Increases were larger for females, and this continues the trend observed in 2019/20, where a higher proportion of females were awarded the top A* and A*-A grades. This is also a reversal of the gender gap in achievement at these grades seen in 2017/18 and 2018/19.
At A*-B the gap between female and male achievement has been continuously increasing for the last three years, where female students are more likely to achieve these grades.
A level results by disadvantage
The proportion of non-disadvantaged and disadvantaged students achieving A* grades has increased over the past three years. However, there have been bigger increases for non-disadvantaged students.
From 2018/19 to 2020/21, the percentage of disadvantaged students achieving A* has increased from 3.2% to 9.6% (6.4ppts) and the percentage of non-disadvantaged students achieving A* grades has increased from 6.9% to 16.8% (9.8ppts). This means that the disadvantage gap has widened at this top grade.
A similar pattern is observed when considering A*-A grades. The pattern at A*-B and beyond is that the gap has narrowed compared to 2018/19 although it is slightly greater than last year.
A level grades by institution
The proportion of entries awarded at A* and A grades at A level has increased across nearly all institution types for the past three years.
Independent schools have awarded more A level grades at A* since 2018/19 (increasing 23.6ppts), more than twice the corresponding increases in A* grades awarded at state-funded schools (10.3ppts) However state-funded schools have seen an increase in attainment that is more evenly distributed across A and A* grades.
This is consistent with the average point score for both institution types increasing by around 0.8 grades since 18/19. (That increase in independent schools translates into more A* grades as their attainment was already higher.)
