North-South gap in A-level results fuels fears of social mobility

A regional North-South divide appeared in A- level results, as the first exam results since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic also showed a drop in top grades.

In a blow to Downing Street's leveling scheme, the analysis found a steeper drop in A* and A grades being awarded in the North East of England compared to the South East.

A social mobility charity says the government needed to do more to tackle disparities, while Labour's shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: 'Students in the North East are no less capable, but after 12 years of government For conservatives, they see their results slipping back compared to their peers in the south of England.

Hundreds of thousands of students tore up their results envelopes on Thursday, after schools resumed exams after two years of teacher-assessed grades during the pandemic.

< p>The overall results showed A-level entries receiving A* and A in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were down 8.4 percentage points from last year, at the end of the year. following a move to curb grade inflation - but numbers were still higher than in 2019, before the pandemic.

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Girls continued to outperform boys overall , with the proportion of A* to E grades standing at 98.7% for girls compared to 98.1% for boys - but the lead girls enjoy in the top grades has narrowed.

The divide between the public and private sectors in England was also highlighted, with 58% of applicants in independent schools and municipal training colleges with A and above in all subjects, compared to 30.7% in secondary and middle schools. Before the pandemic, in 2019, the figures were 44.7% and 20.5%.

University admissions were also down 2% from last year, but represent still the second highest on record. Figures from Ucas (the admissions service for universities and colleges) showed that 425,830 students had places confirmed. The number of students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds obtaining places on courses is 46,850 this year, up 3,770 from 2019.

Labour's analysis, based on figures from Ofqual, showed that top marks have fallen further in the North East of England compared to the South East over the past year. Figures show that in the North East the proportion of A and A* grades fell from 39.2% in 2021 to 30.8% in 2022, compared to a drop from 47.1% to 39.5% in the South East.

"Students receiving their results have worked incredibly hard under unprecedented circumstances, but these inequities reveal the Conservatives' continued failure to allow all young people to thrive after the pandemic," Ms Phillipson said.

The Sutton Trust also pointed out that the biggest gains since 2019 in A grades or above were seen in London, where they were 12 percentage points higher , at 39%. By comparison, the figure in the North East of England was 30.8%, up less than 8 percentage points.

Sir Peter Lampl, Founder and Chairman of the Sutton Trust and Chairman of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: "It's great to see many disadvantaged young people earning a place at university, and that there is a slight narrowing of the gap between the most and the least advantaged .

“Universities have rightly prioritized broadening participation despite an extremely competitive year. However, the gap is even wider than it was before the pandemic, showing that there is still work to be done.

“These data also show that there are regional disparities in outcomes. The government must ensure that students from all backgrounds, in all parts of the country, have the opportunity to succeed."

The Joint Qualifications Council (JCQ) said that the overall pass rate, representing the proportion of entries graded from A* to E, decreased by 1.1 percentage points, from 99.5% in 2021 to 98.4% this year. .8 points since 2019, when it stood at 97.6%.

Applications receiving the highest A* and A grades decreased by 8.4 points, from 44.8% l year to 36.4%, but up 11 percentage points from 25.4%...