As students receive their exam results, the government faces its biggest test yet on education

Warmest congratulations are due to the very many sixth-formers who’ve achieved so much after years during which their education was badly disrupted.

The number of students achieving the top two grades (A and A*) is up marginally from last year in England and Wales, and in all parts of the UK, standards have returned to broadly pre-pandemic levels, or better. The grade inflation seen during the pandemic – chaotic years when exams had to be abandoned in favour of teacher assessments, and classes were supplanted by Zoom calls – has now worked its way out of the system.

Of course, it will be many years before the disruption caused by Covid restrictions and the Raac school buildings crisis can be placed fully in the past, but the progress thus far has been alpha-grade and a credit to the students, their teachers and their parents.

The informal battle of the sexes was again in evidence, with each able to claim some sort of advantage. Boys were slightly ahead in the best grades at A-level, partly down to the mix of subjects studied, but girls have kept their advantage in all pass grades, a long-term trend that also applies at GCSE level.

Given the UK’s quest to boost its long-term economic growth, perhaps the most encouraging development has been the increasing popularity of Stem subjects.

This has been a cultural weakness in the English education system since at least the late 19th century – but even after a lengthy period of deindustrialisation, maths, further maths, computer science, physics and technology have become unexpectedly attractive.

Perhaps all those hours spent gaming haven’t been entirely wasted, and maybe some teenagers are also inspired by the extreme riches – and, more arguably, the coolness – of the “tech bros”, but this rebalancing is in any case a welcome development.

It would be even better if they felt incentivised to stay in the UK to make their fortunes and generate jobs and wealth in their home country, rather than head for California at the first opportunity. But that is a matter for Rachel Reeves and the Treasury.

Some 7,000 pupils scored credibly in the new T-levels, which may also signal some progress in achieving equality of esteem between the liberal arts and the sciences.

Equally heartening has been the improvement in the number of children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds gaining a place at university. There has been much, sometimes disdainful comment about “Mickey Mouse” degrees at the more recently established universities – but the plain fact is that, fees or not, many young people continue to value the mental training, social awakening and personal skills they hone in a higher-education environment, which for many is their first experience of living away from home.

It is an open secret that tertiary education is fast approaching a financial crisis, and it is important that, however this is eventually resolved, the interests of those most vitally affected, and most vulnerable to a squeeze in student numbers caused by any restructuring, are protected.

Impressive and conscientious as successive cohorts of British students have been, there remains much to be done to build on their hard work and dedication and to improve the state sector. Not all of our schools perform as well as their students, parents, and wider communities have a right to expect, and the new education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has an opportunity and a challenge to set that right.

The decision to levy VAT on independent school fees was a controversial one during the election campaign, and Ms Philipson must now ensure that the funds raised are indeed spent wisely, as planned, on recruiting 6,500 more teachers in “key” subjects – all urgently needed (though there seem to be no hard deadlines for them to be trained and in place).

While we understand the avowed intent to use this money to improve the wider education pool, it does risk being perceived as a tax of envy, and the more Blairite arm of the Labour Party has warned against stirring up class warfare.

Ms Phillipson will also have to fulfil Labour’s other ambitious targets: 3,000 new primary-school-based nurseries; free breakfast clubs in every primary school; a “modern curriculum so young people are ready for work and life”; and “high-quality apprenticeships and specialist technical colleges”.

All of these will have to be achieved at the same time as schools suffering from crumbling concrete are rebuilt, and the coming financial crisis in the universities has to be resolved. Building on the genuine improvement in standards under the Conservatives (on the Pisa tables, and despite the underfunding) will require money but also carefully managed reform, and a more thorough modernisation and adoption of new technologies than has hitherto been discussed by Ms Phillipson and her colleagues.

The still fairly new education secretary has emerged as one of Labour’s stars in recent months, and seems serious and dedicated to the “mission” she and Sir Keir Starmer have set themselves. In the words of the Labour manifesto: “Education has so often been the spark that can light a fire within, transforming life chances. It is time to light that fire for the whole country.”

That is correct, and the good news is that they will find that British students also have that fire in their bellies to get the best possible grades.