Boys beat girls for top grades: A-level gender divide flips for the first time in seven years - as the UK's most popular subject is revealed
The proportion of boys' entries awarded A or A* this year was 28.4 per cent, 0.2 percentage points higher than the equivalent figure for girls' entries (28.2%).
Last year, girls across England, Wales and Northern Ireland led boys by 0.4 percentage points - with figures of 28 per cent for girls and 27.7 per cent for boys.
Boys have also this year extended their lead over girls in the highest grade, A*. The proportion of boys' entries awarded the top grade this year was 9.9 per cent, 0.8 points higher than girls.
Last year, boys led girls by 0.4 percentage points (9.5% for boys, 9.1% for girls).
Boys have traditionally led girls, scoring more A* grades than their female classmates every year between 2012 and 2019.
But girls overtook boys between 2020 and 2022 - the years of the Covid-19 pandemic when results were based on teacher assessments instead of exams.
However, following a return to normal assessment procedures, boys reclaimed a 0.3-point lead in 2023.
It comes as pupils on a whole are celebrating a bumper year for A-level results after scoring record top grades outside of the pandemic years.
This morning, 28.3 per cent of pupils got A/A* this year, compared with 27.8 per cent last year, and 25.4 per cent in 2019.
Outside of the Covid years of 2020-2022, when grades were vastly inflated due to teacher assessment, this is the highest proportion on record.
In addition, 9.4 per cent of entries got A* grades this year – almost 1 in 10 – up from 9.3 per cent last year and 7.7 per cent in 2019 – making this also a non-pandemic record.
The top results meant a record 439,180 were accepted onto degree courses, up 3.1 per cent on the same point last year.
Ofqual said this morning results are 'stable' and suggested any changes could be due to the fact that this year students are cleverer.
This is due to them being the first cohort since the pandemic to have GCSE grading returned to normal – so harder – putting less able students off taking A-levels.
And the overall pass rate – the proportion of entries graded A* to E – has also risen to 97.5 per cent this year, which is up on last year (97.2 per cent) and the pre-pandemic year of 2019 (97.6 per cent).
Sir Ian Bauckham, chief regulator of Ofqual, England's exams regulator, said the standard of work required to achieve grades has 'held constant' since 2023.
He said any changes were because a 'smaller, smarter cohort' of students had sat their A-level exams this year compared to previous years.
Sir Ian said: 'Students this year have got the grades they deserve, and their grade will hold its value over time because it represents a stable standard of achievement.'
The Covid-19 pandemic led to an increase in top grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams.
In 2022, grading was brought half way back to normal.
This cohort of school and college leavers received their GCSE results in 2023, the first year that grading was returned to pre-pandemic levels in England.
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