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Boys Beat Girls at A-level by the Widest Margin on Record
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Top grades hit a new high outside the pandemic years
Boys have beaten girls to the top A-level grades by the widest margin on record, official results show. Some 28.9% of boys' entries were awarded an A or A*, against 28% for girls, according to Joint Council for Qualifications figures released today.
The 0.9 percentage point lead is the largest ever recorded, The Telegraph reported. Boys' previous record lead was 0.5 points in 2017. It is the second year running they have finished ahead, after a 0.5-point lead in 2025.
More boys achieved top grades this year than in any year outside the pandemic, when teacher assessments briefly replaced exams.
Subject choice drives the gap
Boys beat girls in 13 of 51 subjects, mostly maths, the sciences, classics, and some languages. They led by 3.5 percentage points in maths, 4.9 in chemistry, 2.1 in physics, and 5.1 in Latin. Girls led by 12.1 points in geography, 10.5 in psychology, and 8.8 in performing arts.
Richard Harry, director of qualifications and assessment at Welsh exam board WJEC, said subject choice explains the difference. 'Learners choose the subjects that they're most interested in... and that can lead to different outcomes', he said.
Grade inflation appears to have re-established itself as an intrinsic part of the system.
Entries remain heavily split by sex. Computing was 81% male, down from 90.2% a decade ago. Physics was 76% male and further maths 73.6%. Performing arts was 91.2% female, English literature 79.2%, and sociology 77.2%, according to Schools Week analysis of JCQ data.
Girls make up around 54% of all entries, so they still receive more top grades than boys in absolute numbers. Girls also kept their lead in Wales, at 29.6%, though boys overtook them in Northern Ireland.
Top grades hit a new high, and not everyone is happy
Across all entries, 28.5% of grades were A* or A. That is the highest ever outside the pandemic years, up from 28.3% in 2025 and 25.8% a decade ago, The Guardian reported.
Iain Mansfield, head of education at Policy Exchange, called the third straight rise in top grades 'disappointing'. He said grade inflation 'appears to have re-established itself as an intrinsic part of the system' and warned confidence in top grades will be undermined.
Mr Harry rejected the grade inflation charge. He said awarding methods ensure an A 'means the same thing' as in previous years.
Sir Ian Bauckham, chief regulator of Ofqual, the government-funded exams regulator, said the rise was 'largely driven' by the growing popularity of maths. It was the most popular A-level for the 13th year running, and he noted it 'correlates to higher earning potential'.
London pulls further ahead of the North East
London recorded 32.7% A* and A grades, up from 27.4% a decade ago. The North East managed around 23.1%. That 9.6-point gap is the largest on record, up from 5.3 points in 2016. The North West, East Midlands, and eastern England all saw top grades fall.
Record university places
UCAS figures show 262,820 UK 18-year-olds gained a university or college place, up 3% from 255,130 last year. Part of the rise reflects a larger 18-year-old population. High-ranking universities saw acceptances rise by more than 5%. Elite universities have been widely reported to have lowered entry grades to recruit more British students, after a fall in international postgraduate numbers hit their finances, though official data does not quantify this.
Among those collecting results was the Earl of Wessex, 18 years old, and 17th in line to the throne. Buckingham Palace said he will study Rural Land and Property Management at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, without taking a gap year.
