GCSE results day: More pupils get top grades as gap between boys and girls shrinks

GCSE results day: More pupils get top grades as gap between boys and girls shrinks Overall pass rates have now settled back to pre-Covid levels - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Top grades for GCSE entries have seen an increase compared with 2025, though overall pass rates have now settled back to pre-pandemic levels, according to national data. Meanwhile, the results gap between boys and girls has closed further, reaching its smallest margin this century. A larger number of candidates aged 17 and over sat English and maths examinations this year, driven largely by pupils in England required to resit after missing key pass marks, though overall outcomes for this group deteriorated. The results were released on Thursday morning as hundreds of thousands of pupils collected their GCSEs and technical qualifications. The figures, published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), cover GCSE entries from students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Following a pilot scheme in 2025, all year 11 students are able to view their results digitally through an app for the first time this summer. More than a fifth (22 per cent) of UK entries were awarded the top grades – at least a 7 or an A grade – this year, up by 0.1 percentage points on 2025, when 21.9 per cent achieved the top grades. This was higher than in 2019, the last year before the pandemic, when 20.8 per cent of entries achieved the top grades. The proportion of entries getting at least a 4 or a C grade – considered a “standard pass” – has fallen from 67.4 per cent in 2025 to 67.3 per cent this year – a drop of 0.1 percentage points, and the same as in 2019. Many of the pupils who are receiving their GCSE results this summer were in Year 5 when schools closed because of Covid-19, meaning their secondary education was not disrupted by the height of the pandemic. In England, students who do not secure at least a grade 4 in English and/or maths GCSE are typically required to retake the subjects during post-16 education. The proportion of post-16 UK entries for English rose by 6.5 per cent on last year, but the rate of scoring a decent pass decreased by 1.4 percentage points. For maths, the proportion of entries increased by 5.8 per cent but the rate of achieving a 4 was down 1.7 percentage points on 2025. Education Secretary Lucy Powell said that repeated resits lead to “branding (students) as a failure” and affecting self-confidence. She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “That’s why we’re going to be looking at that, and I’m going to be bringing in a new stepping stone qualification, as we’re calling it, a level one… in maths and in English, so that there is an additional qualification that young people can work towards. “I want to work with employers to make sure that that qualification is credible, is respected, and that employers see that as sufficient or more than sufficient for young people to go on to do things like an apprenticeship in construction or health and social care.” Boys have continued to close the gender gap. Overall, nearly a quarter (24.4 per cent) of girls’ GCSE entries were awarded at least a grade 7/A compared with almost a fifth of boys’ entries (19.6 per cent): a 4.8 percentage point gap, down from a difference of 5.1 last year. Meanwhile, 70.2 per cent of girls’ GCSE entries were awarded at least a grade 4/C compared with 64.4 per cent of boys’ entries – a 5.8 percentage point gap, a decrease from 6.2 in 2025. These are the narrowest leads enjoyed by girls since at least 2000, which is the earliest archive data available. Education experts raised long-standing concerns over the gender disparity ahead of the results being released. The Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys (CPRMB) said the disparities at GCSE level, and in education more widely, can mean boys struggle to thrive after leaving school. CPRMB research officer Martha Lucas said: “When around a third of boys’ entries to GCSE are consistently not meeting a grade four each year, which is the standard pass level, it is a massive concern. “For a lot of employment, meeting that grade four in maths and English is a barrier to finding that employment. “This year, the number of male Neets (not in education, employment or training) hit more than 500,000. “So, boys are consistently leaving school without the qualifications nor education necessary for them to thrive in adult life – get a job, be in employment – and quite frankly that desperately needs to change.” Ms Lucas said the gender gap starts to emerge when children are as young as five, adding that girls are “consistently outperforming boys in education”. The gap in top grades between London – the best performing region – and the North East – the worst performing – has widened to a record high of 10.9 percentage points, up from 10.6 in 2025. Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said: “It is a damning indictment of 21st-century Britain that where you happen to grow up has such a profound impact on your educational and life chances. “Something is fundamentally amiss when children with the same talents and potential face such different prospects simply because of where they happen to live. “England’s educational divide is a story of London increasingly pulling away from much of the rest of the country. “But these broad regional divides conceal an even more troubling geography of opportunity: sometimes a few streets, or a different postcode, can make the difference between a life of opportunity and a life of overlooked talent.” 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. Overall entries for GCSEs have risen slightly – up 0.6 per cent on 2025 – after dropping last year. The overall rate for grades 1/G or above is 97.9 per cent, which is the same as 2025 but is down on 98.3 per cent in 2019. In England, Ofqual brought GCSE grading standards back in line with pre-Covid levels in 2023, and exam regulators in Wales and Northern Ireland returned to pre-pandemic grading the year after. The move came after Covid-19 led to an increase in top GCSE grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams. Subscribe here to get the latest updates from The Independent. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments