Gap narrows between London and north-east England for top GCSE grades

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

London and north-east England continue to have the highest and lowest proportion of GCSE entries awarded grade 7/A or above in England, but the gap between the regions has narrowed for the first time in nearly a decade.

In London, 28.5% of entries were awarded 7/A or higher this year, up slightly from 28.4% in 2023, while for north-east England the figure was 17.8%, up from 17.6%.

The gap between these two regions this year stood at 10.7 percentage points, down from 10.8 points in 2023.

It is the first time this gap has narrowed year-on-year since 2016, when it fell from 7.7 points to 7.5 points.

Since 2016, it had got larger in every year, peaking at 10.8 points in 2023, before narrowing slightly in 2024.

The gap this year at grade 7/A between south-east England (24.7%) and north-east England (17.8%) is 6.9 points, up slightly from 6.8 points in 2023 but lower than 7.1 points in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

Some six of the nine regions of England saw a rise this year in the proportion of GCSE entries awarded grade 7/A or above, with one showing no change (north-west England) and two seeing a fall: the East Midlands, down 0.2 points from 18.5% to 18.3%, and eastern England. down 0.5 points from 21.9% to 21.4%.

Nearly all regions of England saw a higher proportion of entries getting the top grades this year compared with the pre-pandemic year of 2019, with two exceptions: the East Midlands and north-west England, where the figures were unchanged.

Elsewhere, Northern Ireland continues to record the best GCSE performance of any nation or region, with 31.0% of entries this year awarded A/7 or above, down from 34.5% in 2023.

In Wales, the proportion is down from 21.7% in 2023 to 19.2% this year.

Here are the percentage of GCSE entries awarded the top grades (7/A or above) by nation and region, with the equivalent figures for 2023 and the pre-pandemic year of 2019:

– North-east England 17.8% (2023: 17.6%; 2019: 16.4%)– North-west England 18.6% (2023: 18.6%; 2019: 18.6%)– Yorkshire & the Humber 18.3% (2023: 18.2%; 2019: 17.8%)– West Midlands 18.5% (2023: 18.4%; 2019: 18.1%)– East Midlands 18.3% (2023: 18.5%; 2019: 18.3%)– Eastern England 21.4% (2023: 21.9%; 2019: 20.5%)– South-west England 21.2% (2023: 20.8%; 2019: 20.4%)– South-east England 24.7% (2023: 24.4%; 2019: 23.5%)– London 28.5% (2023: 28.4%; 2019: 25.7%)– England 21.7% (2023: 21.6%; 2019: 20.7%)– Wales 19.2% (2023: 21.7%; 2019: 18.4%)– Northern Ireland 31.0% (2023: 34.5%; 2019: 30.5%)– All 21.8% (2023: 22.0%; 2019: 20.8%)

Here is the GCSE pass rate (entries awarded 4 or above) by nation and region:

– North-east England 65.2% (2023: 65.3%; 2019: 63.8%)– North-west England 64.2% (2023: 64.8%; 2019: 64.9%)– Yorkshire & the Humber 63.9% (2023: 64.4%; 2019: 64.1%)– West Midlands 63.1% (2023: 63.9%; 2019: 63.8%)– East Midlands 65.1% (2023: 65.8%; 2019: 65.8%)– Eastern England 67.9% (2023: 68.6%: 2019: 67.1%)– South-west England 69.1% (2023: 69.2%; 2019: 68.3%)– South-east England 70.4% (2023: 70.7%; 2019: 70.2%)– London 72.5% (2023: 72.6%; 2019: 70.6%)– England 67.4% (2023: 67.8%; 2019: 67.1%)– Wales 62.2% (2023: 64.9%; 2019: 62.8%)– Northern Ireland 82.7% (2023: 86.8%; 2019: 82.2%)– All 67.6% (2023: 68.2%; 2019: 67.3%)