The proportion of GCSE entries awarded top grades has fallen from last year, amid a growing north-south divide in England.
Hundreds of thousands of teenagers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland picked up their results on Thursday morning in a year when grades were due to be restored to 2019 levels in all three nations.
Many of the pupils who are receiving their grades were in Year 7 when schools closed due to the pandemic and schooling became disrupted.
More than a fifth (21.8 per cent) 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 per cent of entries achieved the top grades.
This is higher than the equivalent figure for 2019 (before the pandemic caused the closure of schools) of 20.8 per cent.
The proportion of entries getting at least a 4 or a C grade (considered a “standard pass”) has fallen from 68.2 per cent in 2023 to 67.6 per cent this year – a drop of 0.6 percentage points, but higher than the 67.3 per cent in 2019.
The overall rate for grades 1/G or above is 97.9 per cent, down from 98.0 per cent in 2023 and 98.3 per cent in 2019. This is the lowest 1/G figure for nearly two decades, since 97.8 per cent in 2005.
Concerned education leaders said Thursday’s results showed that some English regions, such as the North East, were still being disproportionately affected by the cost of living crisis and the pandemic.
The latest figures show London and North East England continue to have the highest and lowest proportion of GCSE entries awarded grade 7/A or above in England.
But the gap between the regions has narrowed for the first time in nearly a decade.
In London, 28.5 per cent of entries were awarded 7/A or higher this year, up slightly from 28.4 per cent in 2023, while for North East England the figure was 17.8 per cent, up from 17.6 per cent.
The gap between these two regions this year stood at 10.7 percentage points, down from 10.8 points in 2023. It is the first time this gap has narrowed year on year since 2016, when it fell from 7.7 points to 7.5 points.
Since 2016, it grew every year, peaking at 10.8 points in 2023.
But while there has been a slight narrowing of the gap between the highest- and lowest-performing regions, there are still concerns that there is a significant gulf in attainment.
Chris Zarraga, director of Schools North East, which represents 1,150 schools in the region, said students had achieved outstanding results despite facing “enormous disruption” to their schooling in recent years, particularly in the North East.
He said: “Despite these record GCSEs, exam results in 2024 continue to map the disproportionate impact of the pandemic and cost of living crises, as well as the long-term perennial educational challenges that regions like the North East face.
“These results were a test of how successful the previous government’s plans were at supporting education recovery post pandemic, especially in disadvantaged areas like the North East.
“It is clear that current education policy is failing to close the disadvantage gap in attainment.”
Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust charity and founder of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: “The stubborn regional disparities in attainment are unchanged.”