Updated with revised data for the 2024/25 academic year, including additional data sets on "Value added" and Multi-academy trust attainment.
16-18 Transition Matrices and Ready Reckoner links fixed
This statistical release focuses on the A level and other results of students at the end of 16-18 study in 2024/25 in schools and colleges in England. This revised release includes student characteristic breakdowns such as disadvantage status, Special Educational Needs status and ethnicity.
Comparisons are made to revised data for 2023/24.
B-
No change in average grade from 2023/24 (35.55 points to 36.09 points)
Merit+
No change in average grade from 2023/24 (29.17 points to 29.97 points)
Merit+
No change in average grade from 2023/24 (28.14 points to 28.86 points)
L2Merit-
No change in average grade from 2022/23 (5.63 to 5.60 points)
View tables that we have built for you, or create your own tables from open data using our table tool
Browse and download open data files from this release in our data catalogue
Learn more about the data files used in this release using our online guidance
Download all data available in this release as a compressed ZIP file
All supporting files from this release are listed for individual download below:
This updated release is based on revised data. Since the release of provisional data in November, amendments to the data have been made by schools and colleges through a ‘checking exercise’. More details on the checking exercise and changes in numbers from the provisional release are given in the methodology documentation.
We have also added information to the underlying data tables on:
Statistics in this release for 2024/25 include grades received by students as announced on 14 August 2025. The exam grades have been matched to students to enable student level analyses.
Breakdowns of the A/AS level grades achieved in summer 2025 were previously published on results day by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) (opens in new tab). These statistics were at exam entry level for students of all ages in England and the UK. However, data in this statistical release covers exam entries by 16 to 18 year olds in schools and colleges in England.
T Level outcomes are not included in this statistical release, but provisional results for 2024/25 were published by DfE in August for students who had started a T Level in England in 2023/24.
In addition, Ofqual (opens in new tab) also routinely publish statistics on results day for students in England.
Further details on specific performance measures methodology, qualifications approved for reporting, and determining when a student is at the end of 16-18 study are given in methodology documentation.
Qualifications are grouped into A level (subset of Academic), applied general, and tech level exam cohorts at level 3, and technical certificates at level 2. Applied general, tech level and technical certificates are ‘vocational and technical qualifications’ (VTQs). Students can be reported in more than one exam cohort. Further detail on the cohorts is available in 16 to 18 accountability headline measures: technical guide (opens in new tab).
Compared to 2023/24, the number of students at the end of 16-18 study has increased by 2.7%, however the number of students in the level 3 cohort has fallen by 2.2%. This decrease is largely driven by the tech level cohort, which like last year, has continued to reduce, falling by 9.2%.
The A level cohort, which includes some students who just enter AS levels, has remained relatively level, unlike in previous years which has seen a steady rise. This was following an initial decline when A and AS levels were decoupled during A level reform (opens in new tab).
The increase in the A level cohort size in 2021/22 and 2022/23 coincided with more students getting higher GCSE grades at KS4 two years earlier when students received centre-assessment and teacher assessed grades (CAGs and TAGs).
In 2024/25 the technical certificate cohort (who generally enter the qualification in their first year of their 16 to 18 study) has increased compared to last year (4.9%). Lower student numbers in 2021/22 and 2022/23 were due to removing grades awarded through CAG/TAG, where the pattern of early entries meant this cohort was more strongly impacted (see section ‘Changes introduced in the 2021/22 release’ of the Methodology).
These figures give the average points and average result that students achieved throughout their 16 to 18 study. Points are given to all qualifications approved for reporting so we can compare qualifications of different size and grading structures. A maximum of 60 points are available for A level, 50 points for applied general and tech level and 8 points for technical certificates.
The A level average point score per entry (APS) has risen from 35.55 to 36.09 when compared to last year. (NB, for all level 3 qualifications a change in 1pt corresponds to a change of 1/10th of a grade; meaning this slight annual increase in A level attainment of 0.5 pts translates into an increase of just 1/20th of a grade).
Across the applied general and tech level cohorts the APS has risen slightly when compared to last year, by 0.8pts and 0.7pts respectively.
The retention measure shows the percentage of students who are retained to the end of the ‘core aim’ (or main learning aim) of their study programme at a school or college. More details on the underlying methodology are given in the methodology documentation.
The most recent retention data available is for 2023/24 - an update to this statistical release with 2024/25 retention figures is expected to be released in March 2026.
The retention rates across all level 3 study programmes fell in 2023/24 when compared to 2022/23, continuing the trend of decreasing retention rates. Applied general and tech level retention rates were at their lowest since the retention measure was introduced in 2015/16. Falling retention rates in 2023/24 may be linked to the previously observed increase in the number of students entering level 3 qualifications in 2021/22 and 2022/23, having received higher centre-assessment grade and teacher assessed grade (CAG and TAG) GCSEs earlier at Key Stage 4 in 2019/20 and 2020/21. Students unable to complete their level 3 courses will tend to be flagged as being at the end of 16-18 study after 3 years, i.e. if students with TAG GCSE grades are less likely to be retained in level 3 courses, the impact on retention rates will have been observed in 2023/24.
A level programmes continued to have the highest retention rates, as has been the case since 2015/16, when the measure was introduced. Applied general programmes had the lowest level 3 retention rates, which has been the general trend for the past five years with the notable exception of 2021/22.
Technical certificate programmes continued to have a lower retention rate than the level 3 programmes. They have also seen a fall in retention rate in 2023/24 when compared to the previous year.
At the end of 16-18 study, 22.7% of state-funded students were recorded as being disadvantaged in 2024/25. A higher proportion of disadvantaged students study technical certificates compared to the end of 16 to 18 cohort whereas a lower proportion of disadvantaged students study A levels.
In 2024/25, the average point scores (APS) for both disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students have increased slightly compared to last year for each of the A level, applied general, and tech level cohorts.
The A level cohort disadvantage gap has narrowed to 4.6pts, 0.3pts lower than last year. The applied general cohort disadvantage gap has also slightly decreased by 0.2pts from last year, now at 2.1pts, however the tech level disadvantage gap has remained almost level at 3.0pts this year.
To get a fuller picture on the impact of disadvantaged status, this data should be looked at in conjunction with data on retention rates (the percentage of students who have completed their main study programme at a provider). In 2023/24, 92.7% of non-disadvantaged A level students were retained and assessed compared to 84.7% of disadvantaged students. Students can only be included in the APS measure if they are entered for examination i.e. if they are retained and assessed. More information on 2023/24 retention can be found in the 2023/24 version of this statistical release. An update to this statistical release with 2024/25 retention figures is expected to be released in March 2026.
Students continue to be unevenly distributed across exam cohorts when results are broken down by ethnicity. A higher proportion of Asian or Asian British groups study A level and Applied General when compared to the overall end of 16 to 18 study cohort. The reverse is true for White students, where a higher proportion study technical certificates than the overall end of 16 to 18 cohort.
At A level, most ethnicities had broadly similar attainment except for Black or Black British students, which had an average points score (APS) at least 2.3pts lower than that of any other major ethnic group. White students achieved the highest APS, 3.4pts higher than that of Black or Black British students.
The rank order of attainment by ethnicity has remained unchanged at A level for the past five years, including through the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes to the grading processes.
Asian or Asian British students achieved the highest APS within the applied general and tech level cohorts (30.6pts and 29.7pts respectively).
At A level, 9.5% of White students, 18.2% of Asian or Asian British students, 20.6% of Mixed Dual background students, 33.6% of Black or Black British students, and 34.9% of ‘any other ethnic group’ students had disadvantage status. This ordering has changed slightly from previous years, where Black or Black British students had the highest proportion of disadvantaged students. The proportion of disadvantaged students will impact on each ethnic group’s overall APS.
Across all level 3 cohorts, non-disadvantaged students attained a higher APS than disadvantaged students across all ethnicity groups.
At A level, the disadvantaged gap is largest for students from the White ethnic group (5.2pts) and smallest for students from the Black or Black British ethnic group (1.7pts). This latter result is driven primarily by the APS for non-disadvantaged Black or Black British students falling below the level achieved by their peers in other ethnic groups.
To get a fuller picture on the impact of ethnicity, this data should be looked at in conjunction with data on retention rates (the percentage of students who have completed their main study programme at a provider). In 2023/24, 90.7% of White A level students were retained and assessed compared to an average across all students of 91.5%. The Asian or Asian British group had the highest retained and assessed rate at A level at 94.9%. An update to this statistical release with 2024/25 retention figures is expected to be released in March 2026.
Within the A level and applied general cohort, female students continue to achieve higher average point scores (APS) compared to male students, as has been the trend for the past five years. For A level students, the gap has decreased in comparison to last year, with a difference of 0.9pts in favour of females from 1.2pts. For applied general students the gap is slightly narrower, falling from 2.6pts last year to 2.4pts this year.
For the second consecutive year, the attainment gap between female and male tech level students is in favour of male students. The gap has widened slightly to 0.5pts in favour of males from 0.3pts last year.
From 2023/24 data for applied general students, the female and male retained and assessed rates were roughly equal. At A level, the gap between female and male retained and assessed rates was 0.5ppts in favour of male students. For tech level students, the gap had narrowed to 2.0ppts in favour of female students. An update to this statistical release with 2024/25 retention figures is expected to be released in March 2026.
At the end of 16-18 study, 13.1% of students were recorded as having some identified SEN in 2024/25. SEN students continue to be more likely to be represented in the technical certificate cohort and less likely to be represented in the A level cohort, with 22.9% and 5.2% respectively having SEN support, a statement of SEN, or an EHC plan in place.
In 2024/25, the A level average points score (APS) has risen by 1.4pts for students with an EHC plan compared with 2023/24, while the APS has risen by 1.0pts for students with SEN support. Students with no identified SEN have also seen an increase in APS by 0.6pts.
In 2023/24, 91.8% of A level students with no identified SEN were retained and assessed compared to 86.6% of students with EHC plans. Conversely, for Tech Levels, 74.0% of students with no identified SEN were retained and assessed, compared to 76.8% of students with EHC plans. An update to this statistical release with 2024/25 retention figures is expected to be released in March 2026.
At regional level, London and the South East have consistently achieved the highest average point scores (APS) within the A level cohort over the last 5 years, and that continues to be the case this year. All regions have seen a rise in A level APS this year compared to last year, except the North East, which has fallen by 0.2pts from last year.
The North West and the South West have the highest average attainment for the applied general and tech level cohorts this year respectively. For the applied general cohort, the APS has increased across all regions compared to last year. The largest increase is seen in the North East, North West, and London, with rises of 0.9pts compared to 2023/24. The APS for the tech level cohort has also increased across all regions. The North East saw the largest increase in APS at 1.1pts.
These regional aggregations, however, mask much more varied APS at the level of local authorities. For this reason, users should exercise caution when making geographical generalisations.
From 2023/24 data, the highest retained and assessed rate was in London at 93.4% for A level, compared to a low of 88.7% in the North East. For applied general students, a high of 82.5% in the West Midlands compared to a low of 77.9% in the South East. For tech level students, a high of 77.4% in the East Midlands compared to a low of 71.6% in the North East. An update to this statistical release with 2024/25 retention figures is expected to be released in March 2026.
Breakdowns of other student characteristics such as prior attainment, institution type, first language, free school meals status, and detailed ethnicity and SEN breakdowns, including these broken down further by disadvantage status, are available in the create your own tables sections of this statistical release: Create your own tables, Table Tool – Explore education statistics – GOV.UK (explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk)
The English and maths progress measure has returned this year following a period of absence since 2021/22 due to the impact of excluding CAG/TAG grades on this performance measure.
Since August 2014, students on 16-19 study programmes of 150 hours or more who do not hold a GCSE grade 9-4 (or equivalent qualification) in English and/or maths, are required to study these subjects under Condition of Funding rules.
The 2024/25 English and maths cohort is still impacted by changes to grading approaches during the pandemic
In 2019/20, grades were awarded via centre assessed grades (CAGs), in 2020/21 via teacher assessed grades (TAGs), and in 2021/22, whilst exams returned, the approach to grading broadly reflected a midpoint between results in 2018/19 and 2020/21.
The majority of the students included in this release finished within two years of study. This means the majority reached the end of key stage 4 when grading approach had returned to normal.
However, a large proportion of students (89% and 84% respectively) that take below Level 3 English or maths remain into their third year of study and so would have ended their key stage 4 study in 2021/22. CAGs and TAGs resulted in higher prior attainment and as none of the 2024/25 cohort were awarded these at key stage 4, below Level 3 entries have increased as more have needed to resit. However, many of the 2024/25 English and maths cohort would still have had their key stage 4 attainment adjusted by the mid-point approach and so they are not yet a comparable cohort to pre-pandemic.
Of the students in scope for the measure, 81.2% of students entered an approved English qualification, and 82.3% of students entered an approved maths qualification. Of these students, a higher proportion of the cohort improved their point score (38.8% and 33.3% for English and maths respectively) whilst 27.2% (English) and 33.4% (maths) remained the same and 15.1% (English) and 15.6% (maths) scored lower.
A higher proportion of non-disadvantaged students entered an approved English or maths qualification compared to disadvantaged students. The average progress of disadvantaged students was generally lower than non-disadvantaged students too, with those studying English achieving an average of 0pts progress and those studying maths achieving an average of -0.1pts progress.
Of the major institution types, most students in scope for the measure are studying at either ‘All state-funded schools’ or ‘Other FE sector colleges’. The proportion of students studying an approved English or maths qualification is highest at ‘Sixth form colleges’ (88.7% and 89.4% for English and Maths respectively) and lowest at ‘All independent schools’ (36.4% and 46.2% for English and Maths respectively).
‘Sixth form colleges’ and ‘All state-funded schools’ have the highest average progress in both English and maths. Students in ‘Sixth form colleges also have the highest average prior points for both English and maths.
This section focuses on the attainment of students who attended schools that were in multi-academy trusts (MATs) in England. Further information on MATs can be found in the equivalent Key stage 2 attainment and Key stage 4 performance statistical releases.
Multi-academy trusts (MATs) can comprise converter academies, sponsored academies, free schools, studio schools, and/or university technical colleges (UTCs):
Due to the different historic performance of schools that become sponsored or converter academies and those which remain LA maintained, simple comparisons between the whole MAT sector and other state-funded schools and colleges will not be meaningful and are not made in this publication.
Further, caution should be taken when comparing national MAT statistics across years as the composition of the academies and MATs included continues to vary, as the sector matures.
The measures cover state-funded mainstream schools and colleges within MATs only. Special schools, pupil referral units, alternative provision academies and alternative provision free schools are not included.
In MAT performance tables data, accountability measures are only produced at 16 to 18 for MATs:
We do this so that we include data for MATs that are sufficiently well established to have had time to a) have an impact on the performance of schools within the MAT and b) so that aggregate data tells you more than the individual institution data would.
Across all MATs in 2024/25, 49,565 academic students in 567 institutions were eligible for reporting, against 83,337 academic students in 710 institutions in ineligible multi academy trusts.
Of those in eligible institutions, 63.1% of academic students were in convertor academies and 24.4% in sponsored academics, with the remainder either as free schools, studio schools, or university technical colleges. For comparison, for those in ineligible institutions, 85.9% of academic students were in convertor academies and only 7.3% in sponsored academies.
Performance tables data for eligible MATs can be found here at the Compare school and college performance website (opens in new tab).
The academic qualification average point scale is 0-60, applied general is 0-50; within each cohort a difference of 1pt corresponds to 1/10th of a grade.
For students in the academic cohort, the average point score (APS) was higher in converter academies at 35.23pts, compared to 31.56pts in sponsored academies. This is as would be expected given the difference in their historic performance prior to becoming academies.
Free Schools had the highest attainment at 37.18pts. Studio schools and UTCs had the lowest attainment at 29.65pts and 25.28pts respectively. However, note the number of students in Studio Schools and UTCs entering level 3 academic qualifications are low.
For students in the applied general cohort, converter academies and sponsored academies have around the same average point score at 31.10pts and 31.17pts respectively.
Attainment outcomes are broadly comparable for eligible and ineligible academies overall (differences consistently within 1pt or 1/10th of a grade for the last 3 years)
Find out how and why we collect, process and publish these statistics.
These accredited official statistics have been independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (opens in new tab) (OSR). They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics (opens in new tab). Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (opens in new tab).
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