Top A-levels fall to pre-Covid levels, with fall steepest in England

Students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are receiving their A-level results today and grades are down. 

The proportion of A or A* grades is 27.2% – down from a peak of 44.8% during the pandemic. The steepest fall was in England where 26.5% of exams got the top grade, whilst in Wales, the figure was 34%, with 37.5% in Northern Ireland getting the top grades.

Across the UK, 79% of those receiving results gained a place at their first-choice university, UCAS say.

The proportion of A-levels marked at A* and A was:

• 26.5% in England, down from 35.9% in 2022
• 34% in Wales, down from 40.9%
• 37.5% in Northern Ireland, down from 44%

The proportion of top grades in England this year is about 1.3 percentage points higher than it was in 2019.

In Wales and Northern Ireland, it is around seven to eight percentage points higher.