In 2024, 9.3 percent of students in the United Kingdom achieved the highest possible grade (an A*) in their A-Levels, with more than a quarter of entries achieving an B, the most common individual grade level in this year. Grades in 2020 and 2021 were generally a lot higher than in previous years due to the different grading circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Summer 2024, GCSE students in the United Kingdom had a pass rate (achieving a grade of C/4 or higher) of 67.6 percent, the lowest since 2019 but still a noticeable increase when compared with years before 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic, and closure of schools in the UK led to exams throughout the country being cancelled, with grades in 2020 and 2021 based on assessment by teachers and schools. During this provided time period, the highest pass rate was reported in 2021, when 77.1 percent of GCSE entries achieved a pass grade, while it was lowest in 1988, when just 41.9 percent of entries were awarded a pass grade. Gender attainment gap Among female students, the proportion of GCSE entries that received a pass rate in 2024 was 71 percent, compared with 64.2 percent of male students. This attainment gap between male and female students has been a consistent feature of GCSE exam results in recent years, with female A-Level students also outperforming their male counterparts. Among undergraduates, this gap is less pronounced, with UK degree results for 2021/22 showing female undergraduates attaining only slightly higher grades than males. Growing negativity about UK education system According to a survey conducted in June 2024, approximately 42 percent of British adults thought that education across the country was in a bad shape, compared with 32 percent who thought it was doing well. This is down from 2021 when just under half of adults believed that the national education system was good, and just 27 percent who thought it was bad. Although education currently lies behind several other issues for Britons in terms of importance, such as the economy, the growing discontent about education will likely be one of the many issues the new Labour government will have to face in the coming months. As of July 2024, the Labour Party was also seen as the best party at handling education issues, ahead of the Conservative and Liberal Democrats.

In the United Kingdom 24.7 percent of female students achieved an A/7 grade or higher at GCSE level, compared with 19 percent of female students in Summer 2024. In the provided time period, female students have consistently had a higher pass rate for high grades than male students, with the pass rates at this level peaking in 2020 and 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the unique grading methods used in these academic years.

Census 2021 data on religion by highest qualification level, by sex, by age, England and Wales combined. This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents in England and Wales by ethnic group. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.

The religion people connect or identify with (their religious affiliation), whether or not they practise or have belief in it.
This question was voluntary and the variable includes people who answered the question, including “No religion”, alongside those who chose not to answer this question.

Total counts for some population groups may not match between published tables. This is to protect the confidentiality of individuals' data. Population counts have been rounded to the nearest 5 and any counts below 10 are suppressed, this is signified by a 'c' in the data tables.

This dataset shows population counts for usual residents aged 16 years and over. Some people aged 16 years old will not have completed key stage 4 yet on census day, and so did not have the opportunity to record any qualifications on the census.

These estimates are not comparable to Department of Education figures on highest level of attainment because they include qualifications obtained outside England and Wales.

Quality notes can be found here

Quality information about Education can be found here

Religion

The 8 ‘tickbox’ religious groups are as follows:

• Buddhist
• Christian
• Hindu
• Jewish
• Muslim
• No religion
• Sikh
• Other religion

No qualifications

No qualifications

Level 1

Level 1 and entry level qualifications: 1 to 4 GCSEs grade A* to C , Any GCSEs at other grades, O levels or CSEs (any grades), 1 AS level, NVQ level 1, Foundation GNVQ, Basic or Essential Skills

Level 2

5 or more GCSEs (A* to C or 9 to 4), O levels (passes), CSEs (grade 1), School Certification, 1 A level, 2 to 3 AS levels, VCEs, Intermediate or Higher Diploma, Welsh Baccalaureate Intermediate Diploma, NVQ level 2, Intermediate GNVQ, City and Guilds Craft, BTEC First or General Diploma, RSA Diploma

Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship

Level 3

2 or more A levels or VCEs, 4 or more AS levels, Higher School Certificate, Progression or Advanced Diploma, Welsh Baccalaureate Advance Diploma, NVQ level 3; Advanced GNVQ, City and Guilds Advanced Craft, ONC, OND, BTEC National, RSA Advanced Diploma

Level 4 +

Degree (BA, BSc), higher degree (MA, PhD, PGCE), NVQ level 4 to 5, HNC, HND, RSA Higher Diploma, BTEC Higher level, professional qualifications (for example, teaching, nursing, accountancy)

Other

Vocational or work-related qualifications, other qualifications achieved in England or Wales, qualifications achieved outside England or Wales (equivalent not stated or unknown)

In the 2022/23 academic year, 30 percent of undergraduate students obtaining their degree were awarded a degree with first-class honors, the highest possible grade for UK graduates. Almost half of all students achieved an upper second or 2.1, with 20 percent obtaining a lower second or 2.2, and just four percent of graduates obtained a third, the lowest possible pass grade. The share of UK students graduating with a first-class degree has increased significantly in this time period, while the share of students obtaining a 2.2 has fallen the most in the same time period. GCSE and A-Level grades also on the rise Higher grades for the UK's main qualification for high school students, the general certificate of secondary education (GCSE), have also increased in recent years. In 1988 for example, approximately 8.4 percent of GCSE entries received the highest grade, compared with 22 percent in 2023. This is also the case to a lesser-extent for advanced level GCSE results (A-Levels), with the share of entries being awarded an A or A* increasing from 17.8 percent in 2000 to 25.4 percent in 2023. There is no consensus on if these improvements are due to increased ability, or to grade inflation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, grades in the UK were a lot higher than in other years. This was due to teacher and tutor assessments being giving a higher weighting than normal, with exams being postponed or cancelled completely. The UK's top universities Britain's oldest and most famous universities, Cambridge and Oxford, remained the two highest-ranked universities in the UK in 2024, with the London School of Economics finishing third. According to the ranking, the University of St Andrews was the top university outside the south of England, with Durham University being the highest-ranked university in the north of England. The largest university in terms of enrolled students was the mainly remote focused Open University, which had 151,840 students in 2021/22. Among universities that mainly taught on-campus, University College London had the most students enrolled, at 46,830.