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A-level students have been awarded the lowest proportion of top grades in over a decade amid major exam reforms.
This is the third year that students in England have received grades in a number of reformed A-levels, which have moved away from coursework and modules to final exams after two years.
The proportion of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland awarded an A* or A this summer dropped to 25.5 per cent this year – the lowest point since 2007 and almost 1 per cent less than last year.
Meanwhile, the proportion of students who secured the top grade of A* also dropped to 7.8 per cent this year – its lowest level since 2013 – compared to 8 per cent last year.
However, the overall A* to E pass rate in the UK of all subjects remained the same as last year at 97.6 per cent, the national figures published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) revealed.
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South Korean policemen detain a student demonstrator during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye
EPA
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South Korean policemen detain student protestors during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea.
The protesters demanded that the parliament takes steps to impeach President Park Geun-Hye
EPA
3/34
Filipino demonstrators face off with anti-riot police during a protest near the US Embassy in Manila, Philippine
EPA
4/34
Hundreds of protesters including Indigenous People, students and militant groups marched towards the US Embassy to protest against the presence of US military troops and condemning the violent dispersal which left at least forty people hurt including twenty police officers and three people who were run over by a police van
EPA
5/34
A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students
6/34
A man holds up a photograph of a missing student with a caption reading ‘We are missing 43,’ during a meeting marking the 25-month anniversary of the disappearances of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero, in Mexico City.
A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students
AP
7/34
Miguel Perez, an intern student from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, puts away his cell phone before walking into the operating room at the Dr. Isaac Gonzalez MartÌnez Oncological Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Once they complete their general surgery training, many residents are moving to the United States in search of better wages, one of the main factors linked to the current shortage of specialists in the Island
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Fewer EU students have applied to start university courses in the UK next autumn.
There was a 9% fall in the numbers who had applied for courses, according to admissions service UCAS.
PA wire
9/34
University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela.
Masses of protesters jammed the streets of Venezuela’s capital on the heels of a move by congress to open a political trial against Maduro, whose allies have blocked moves for a recall election
AP
10/34
University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela
AP
11/34
Thousands, most of them high school students, march during a demonstration in Madrid, Spain, on a one day strike to protest about the country’s education law that increases the number of annual exams
AP
12/34
Students gather on the west mall to confront the Young Conservatives of Texas student organization over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas.
The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action
13/34
Donald Parish Jr, right, confronts Electrical and Computer Engineering senior Dewayne Perry over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas.
The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action
AP
14/34
Brigham Young University announced that students who report sexual assault will no longer be investigated for possible violations of the Mormon-owned school’s strict honor code that bans such things as alcohol use
AP
15/34
Students of secondary education march to protest against the final examinations and LOMCE (The Improvement Quality Education Law) law, after a call by trade unions, in Murcia, Spain
EPA
16/34
South African police have used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of protesters who had marched to the parliament building to call for free university education, where the finance minister was giving a budget speech
AP
17/34
Police break up student protests outside the parliament in Cape Town, South Africa
Reuters
18/34
South African Policemen fire rubber bullets at student protestors in Cape Town, South Africa
AP
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A student protestor is hit by a rubber bullet in Cape Town, South Africa
AP
20/34
An injured student is helped by colleagues during protest outside the parliament during South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s medium term budget speech in Cape Town, South Africa
Reuters
21/34
Plaintiffs and bereaved families of elementary school students killed in the tsunami that followed a major earthquake in northeastern Japan in 2011, show banners that say ‘victory in a suit filed with the Sendai District Court’ in Sendai.
A Japanese court ordered municipalities to pay $13.7 million dollars to families of school children who were swept away to their deaths by the 2011 tsunami
Getty
22/34
A group of student at Ewha Womans University calls for a thorough investigation into those involved in years of engagement with state affairs backstage by Choi Soon-sil, a personal confidante of South Korean President Park Geun-hye, at the school’s front gate in Seoul, South Korea
EPA
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Students raise placards during a strike action called by the student union, in Madrid against university entry exams
Getty
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Libyans throw a newly graduated student into a fountain as they celebrate during the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi
Getty
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Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi
Getty
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Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi
Getty
27/34
Thousands of Thai Catholic students take part in mourning tributes and in singing the Thai Royal Anthem to honour late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Saint Dominic School in Bangkok, Thailand
EPA
28/34
Students of Silpakorn University paint portraits of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok
Getty
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A student of Silpakorn University paints a portrait of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok
Getty
30/34
St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator’s Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend
PA wire
31/34
St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator’s Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend, an annual tradition where student ‘parents’ inflict tasks on the unfortunate first-years they have adopted as ‘children’ as part of a mentoring scheme
PA wire
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Students at the Cuba’s National Ballet School (ENB) in Havana, Cuba
Reuters
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Students at the Cuba’s National Ballet School (ENB) take part in a practice in Havana, Cuba
Reuters
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Students at the Cuba’s National Ballet School (ENB) wait in line to enter a classroom in Havana, Cuba
Reuters
1/34
South Korean policemen detain a student demonstrator during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye
EPA
2/34
South Korean policemen detain student protestors during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea.
The protesters demanded that the parliament takes steps to impeach President Park Geun-Hye
EPA
3/34
Filipino demonstrators face off with anti-riot police during a protest near the US Embassy in Manila, Philippine
EPA
4/34
Hundreds of protesters including Indigenous People, students and militant groups marched towards the US Embassy to protest against the presence of US military troops and condemning the violent dispersal which left at least forty people hurt including twenty police officers and three people who were run over by a police van
EPA
5/34
A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students
6/34
A man holds up a photograph of a missing student with a caption reading ‘We are missing 43,’ during a meeting marking the 25-month anniversary of the disappearances of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero, in Mexico City.
A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students
AP
7/34
Miguel Perez, an intern student from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, puts away his cell phone before walking into the operating room at the Dr. Isaac Gonzalez MartÌnez Oncological Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Once they complete their general surgery training, many residents are moving to the United States in search of better wages, one of the main factors linked to the current shortage of specialists in the Island
8/34
Fewer EU students have applied to start university courses in the UK next autumn.
There was a 9% fall in the numbers who had applied for courses, according to admissions service UCAS.
PA wire
9/34
University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela.
Masses of protesters jammed the streets of Venezuela’s capital on the heels of a move by congress to open a political trial against Maduro, whose allies have blocked moves for a recall election
AP
10/34
University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela
AP
11/34
Thousands, most of them high school students, march during a demonstration in Madrid, Spain, on a one day strike to protest about the country’s education law that increases the number of annual exams
AP
12/34
Students gather on the west mall to confront the Young Conservatives of Texas student organization over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas.
The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action
13/34
Donald Parish Jr, right, confronts Electrical and Computer Engineering senior Dewayne Perry over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas.
The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action
AP
14/34
Brigham Young University announced that students who report sexual assault will no longer be investigated for possible violations of the Mormon-owned school’s strict honor code that bans such things as alcohol use
AP
15/34
Students of secondary education march to protest against the final examinations and LOMCE (The Improvement Quality Education Law) law, after a call by trade unions, in Murcia, Spain
EPA
16/34
South African police have used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of protesters who had marched to the parliament building to call for free university education, where the finance minister was giving a budget speech
AP
17/34
Police break up student protests outside the parliament in Cape Town, South Africa
Reuters
18/34
South African Policemen fire rubber bullets at student protestors in Cape Town, South Africa
AP
19/34
A student protestor is hit by a rubber bullet in Cape Town, South Africa
AP
20/34
An injured student is helped by colleagues during protest outside the parliament during South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s medium term budget speech in Cape Town, South Africa
Reuters
21/34
Plaintiffs and bereaved families of elementary school students killed in the tsunami that followed a major earthquake in northeastern Japan in 2011, show banners that say ‘victory in a suit filed with the Sendai District Court’ in Sendai.
A Japanese court ordered municipalities to pay $13.7 million dollars to families of school children who were swept away to their deaths by the 2011 tsunami
Getty
22/34
A group of student at Ewha Womans University calls for a thorough investigation into those involved in years of engagement with state affairs backstage by Choi Soon-sil, a personal confidante of South Korean President Park Geun-hye, at the school’s front gate in Seoul, South Korea
EPA
23/34
Students raise placards during a strike action called by the student union, in Madrid against university entry exams
Getty
24/34
Libyans throw a newly graduated student into a fountain as they celebrate during the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi
Getty
25/34
Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi
Getty
26/34
Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi
Getty
27/34
Thousands of Thai Catholic students take part in mourning tributes and in singing the Thai Royal Anthem to honour late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Saint Dominic School in Bangkok, Thailand
EPA
28/34
Students of Silpakorn University paint portraits of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok
Getty
29/34
A student of Silpakorn University paints a portrait of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok
Getty
30/34
St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator’s Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend
PA wire
31/34
St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator’s Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend, an annual tradition where student ‘parents’ inflict tasks on the unfortunate first-years they have adopted as ‘children’ as part of a mentoring scheme
PA wire
32/34
Students at the Cuba’s National Ballet School (ENB) in Havana, Cuba
Reuters
33/34
Students at the Cuba’s National Ballet School (ENB) take part in a practice in Havana, Cuba
Reuters
34/34
Students at the Cuba’s National Ballet School (ENB) wait in line to enter a classroom in Havana, Cuba
Reuters
Girls outperformed boys at the top grades this year, after two years of males doing better – 25.5 per cent of exam entries for girls were awarded A* or A grades, compared to 25.4 per cent for boys.
But on A* grades alone, boys performed better, with 8.2 per cent of entries getting the highest result, compared with 7.5 per cent of girls’ entries.
The statistics also show that female entries to Biology, Chemistry and Physics have overtaken male entries for the first time, following a government push for more women to take up sciences at A-level.
Dr Philip Wright, director general of the JCQ, insisted that the picture shown by the results was “stable”.
He said: “It is particularly encouraging to see the rise in young women being inspired to take science A-levels. For the first time female entries have overtaken male entries in the sciences.”
Spanish has become the most popular foreign language at A-level, overtaking French for the first time.
As the A-level results were published, separate figures revealed that fewer students have been accepted on UK degree courses this year.
The Ucas data shows that 408,960 students had taken up university places in the UK– down 1 per cent on the same point last year.
A fall in the number of 18-year-olds, due to a lower birth rate in 2000, means universities are looking to fill their places through clearing – the Ucas system used to fill unallocated course places.
A record 33,630 international students – those from outside the EU – have found places, Ucas said, adding that this has been driven by a 32 per cent rise in accepted applicants from China.
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