Displaying items by tag: A levels

A Level results for 2024 have been revealed, with 27.8% of UK students achieving top grades of A or A*, marking an increase from last year’s 27.2% and surpassing pre-pandemic levels in 2019. This is the highest proportion of A* grades awarded since their introduction in 2010, excluding the pandemic years when grades were based on teacher assessments. Despite the increase in top grades, the overall pass rate (A* to E) fell slightly to 97.2%, down from 97.3% last year and 97.6% in 2019. The number of students accepted into UK degree courses rose by 3% from last year, with 425,680 placements secured so far. In a notable trend, boys outperformed girls at the A* grade level, continuing a historical pattern that was briefly interrupted during the pandemic. While many students celebrated their success, challenges persisted, such as the discovery of unsafe building materials in some schools, which led to disruptions. Calls for an uplift in marks for affected students were not universally granted, highlighting ongoing concerns about educational inequality.

The number of students choosing Religious Studies in A-level has fallen, following warnings of a lack of teachers. More than a quarter of pupils have been given either an A or A* - down by 9% compared with 2022. The fall follows a campaign to recruit a new generation of RE teachers, with the Religious Education Council warning that due to shortages in specialist teachers some schools in the Midlands and northeast are struggling to offer the A-level subject. For two decades, A-level RS has had growing numbers of entries and impressive results, opening a world of opportunity, particularly for people from disadvantaged backgrounds, providing access to top universities and careers in law, journalism and teaching. That legacy is now threatened. A teacher training bursary scheme and a fair allocation of resources to the subject would help to reverse this trend.

Eight million children were sent home from school in March. A majority of them struggled to continue learning during lockdown. Of the 52% who struggled, three-quarters of their parents said lack of motivation was the reason. There were also wide disparities in what families were able to do. Although under one in ten parents complained about lack of devices to work on, this rate doubled for single parents. Also nearly a third of working parents said the requirement to homeschool their children had been negatively affecting their job. See A-level and GCSE results are expected to be higher this summer with exam boards basing their grades on previous exam results, the previous year’s distribution of grades in the school, how schools ranked their pupils, and their teachers' predictions. However there is a risk that some pupils could be discriminated against. Back-up exams will be available for all subjects in the autumn.