Fall in key GCSE pass rate as grading returns to pre-Covid level across nations

Many of the pupils who received their GCSE results on Thursday were in Year 7 when schools closed due to the pandemic.

Leona receives her GCSE results at Assumption Grammar School in Ballynahinch, County Down, watched by her mother Denise Braniff and her sister Kayla (Liam McBurney/PA) (PA Wire)

Fewer GCSE entries scored a decent pass this year following efforts to return results to pre-Covid levels.

More than two in three (67.6%) of UK entries were awarded at least a 4 or a C grade – which is considered a “standard pass”, down by 0.6 percentage points on last year when 68.2% achieved these grades.

In 2019 – the last year that summer exams were taken before the pandemic – 67.3% of entries were awarded at least a 4 or a C grade, according to the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) figures.

The figures have sparked fresh concerns that thousands more teenagers in England could be consigned to a “remorseless treadmill” of English and maths resits after failing to achieve a grade 4 or above.

Social mobility experts and education leaders have warned that this summer’s GCSE results show that “stubborn” regional disparities and attainment gaps between rich and poor youngsters remain.

Hundreds of thousands of pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their GCSE exam results on Thursday in a year when grading was expected to return to 2019 levels in all three nations.

Many of the pupils who received their GCSE results on Thursday were in Year 7 when schools closed because of Covid-19.

Leaders in the education sector have warned that the cohort has had to overcome a series of challenges in their secondary school education – including the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis.

The proportion of GCSE entries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland awarded top grades has also fallen this year, the latest JCQ figures show.

More than a fifth (21.8%) of UK GCSE entries were awarded the top grades – at least a 7 or an A grade – this year, down 0.2 percentage points on last year when 22.0% of entries achieved the top grades.

But this is higher than the equivalent figure for 2019 – before the pandemic – of 20.8%.

The overall rate for grades 1/G or above is 97.9%, down from 98.0% in 2023 and 98.3% in 2019.

In England, many students who do not secure at least a grade 4 in English and/or maths at GCSE are required to retake the subjects during post-16 education.

A PA news agency analysis of Ofqual figures suggests 176,270 16-year-olds in England did not achieve a grade 4 or above in maths this year – 8,290 more than last year.

In English language, it is likely that 181,645 16-year-olds did not secure a grade 4 or above, 8,945 more than in 2023.

Figures, published by Ofqual, also showed that the gap in GCSE results between private and state schools in England has widened at the top grades.

Almost half of entries from private schools scored at least a grade 7 this year, compared to around a fifth of those from both comprehensive schools and academies.

In London, 28.5% of entries were awarded a grade 7 or higher this year, while for North East England the figure was 17.8%.

Schools minister Catherine McKinnell said: “I am deeply concerned about the inequalities in our education system with where you live and what type of school you attend still being too big an influence on your opportunities.”

In England, exams regulator Ofqual said it expected this year’s national results to be “broadly similar” to last summer, when grades were brought back in line with pre-pandemic levels.

In Wales and Northern Ireland, exam regulators aimed to return to pre-pandemic grading this summer – a year later than in England.

It comes after Covid-19 led to an increase in top GCSE and A-level grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams.

Sir Ian Bauckham, chief regulator of Ofqual, said the figures showed that “we have settled back into a pattern of dependable and trustworthy results”.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Sir Ian said: “The grading standard, the quality of work, is the same as it was last year and indistinguishable from the grading standard used before the pandemic.”

In England, pupils were given formulae and equation sheets in GCSE mathematics, physics, and combined science exams this summer to recognise pandemic disruption to their schooling.

On the exam aids – which have been offered since 2022 –  Sir Ian told PA: “They do provide support for students and give them that extra little bit of confidence when doing the exam, but in terms of actual grades, marks and grades, they don’t make a discernible difference.”

The previous Government said it did not expect to offer exam aids in 2025.

According to figures from Ofqual, the number of 16-year-old students in England who received a 9 – the highest grade under the numerical grading system – in all their subjects has risen on last year.

Some 1,270 16-year-olds in England taking at least seven GCSEs achieved a grade 9 in all their subjects, compared with 1,160 last year and 837 in 2019.

But the overall number of GCSE entries has increased this year by 4.8% to more than 6.1 million.

These achievements are hard-earned and students should feel justly proud to have reached this important milestone in their educational journey

Margaret Farragher, chief executive of the JCQ

While traditional A*-G grades are used in Northern Ireland and Wales, in England these have been replaced with a 9-1 system, where 9 is the highest.

A 4 is broadly equivalent to a C grade, and a 7 is broadly equivalent to an A.

Nearly 373,000 vocational and technical qualification (VTQ) results have also been awarded to pupils.

Margaret Farragher, chief executive of the JCQ, said: “These achievements are hard-earned and students should feel justly proud to have reached this important milestone in their educational journey.”

In Scotland, results for National 5 qualifications earlier this month showed the pass rate was 77.2%, down from 78.8% last year and 78.2% in 2019.