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The number of top A-levels awarded fell sharply this year as exam boards moved to reverse two years of grade inflation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The proportion of A and A* grades in the UK fell by more than 9 percentage points, equating to 73,000 fewer high marks in 2023, according to data released on Thursday by the Joint Council for Qualifications.
The reduction in the number of top grades followed a decision by the regulator Ofqual to return largely to pre-pandemic grading in 2023 after two years in which students’ performance was based on teacher assessment.
Results were still marginally higher than before the pandemic, with 27.2 per cent of papers awarded A and A* in 2023 in the UK, compared with 25.4 per cent in 2019, but 20 percentage points lower than at the peak of the pandemic in 2021 when 45 per cent of students were awarded the highest grades.
The proportion of top grades was higher outside England after the devolved governments of Wales and Northern Ireland decided to take a slower path to restoring pre-pandemic standards.
In England, 26.5 per cent of results were graded A or A*, compared with 37.5 per cent in Northern Ireland and 34 per cent in Wales.
Maths remained the most popular A-level, accounting for 11.2 per cent of nearly 870,000 entries, with economics entering the top 10 this year. Computing was the fastest-growing A-level, up by 16.7 per cent in 2023.
Overall, a slightly higher proportion of students were awarded their first choice place at university this year compared with 2019, representing a small drop from 2022, according to data from The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).
In the UK, 79 per cent of A-level students achieved their first place choice, up from 74 per cent in 2019, but 2 percentage points down on 2022 when teacher-assessed grades led to 81 per cent receiving their preferred offer.
Education secretary Gillian Keegan said the current cohort of 18-year-olds had done “incredibly well”, with nearly 80 per cent getting their first choice place at university. “We were right to put the grading system back to normal,” she added.
The share of entries receiving top grades has broadly returned to pre-pandemic levels in private as well as state schools.
This has meant a steeper fall during the past two years in the proportion of A and A* grades for private school students, whose marks were inflated more steeply than their state school counterparts during the pandemic.
For those students who fell short or decided to switch to a different course after receiving better than expected grades, there were a total of 29,000 courses available through the “clearing” process, which matches students with available places. This was an increase of 3,000 places compared with last year, reflecting the lower proportion of students making the grades they hoped for.
Sir Chris Husbands, vice-chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University, said call volumes were 40 per cent higher than last year, with significant numbers taking up “insurance” offers.
“Clearing is livelier than we have seen for some years. The system is working as it should do: providing an efficient mechanism for those who undershoot grades to find places,” he added.
The gap between wealthy and less advantaged students did not improve, with 2.30 advantaged students gaining a place for every one disadvantaged students, compared with 2.29 last year.
“Today’s data shows that challenges in widening participation to the most disadvantaged students still persist,” said Clare Marchant, chief executive of UCAS.
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