The release of A-level results in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland has brought to light a marginal increase in the number of top grades achieved by students. With hundreds of thousands of students awaiting their results, it was revealed that the percentage of A* grades rose by 0.4% from the previous year, reaching 9.3%, while the number of A*-A grades saw a 0.6% increase, climbing to 27.8%.
This year marked the first time in which the entire UK reverted to pre-pandemic grading methods, with England having done so last year, and Northern Ireland and Wales following suit in 2024.
## Popular Subjects and Grades
While overall grades remained relatively consistent with the previous year, there were notable shifts in the popularity of certain subjects, particularly in STEM fields. Further Maths experienced a significant surge in entries, with a 19.9% increase. Mathematics itself became the first subject to surpass 100,000 students, with a 10.2% rise to 107,427 entries. Physics and Computer Science also saw notable increases, with a 12.3% and 11.3% rise in entries, respectively.
## Top 10 Most Popular Subjects
The top 10 most popular subjects remained unchanged from the previous year, with Maths, Psychology, Biology, Chemistry, History, Business Studies, Sociology, Art & Design subjects, Physics, and Economics leading the pack in terms of student enrollment.
## Regional Disparities
Regional disparities in A-level grades were evident, with London surpassing the South East as the highest-performing area in terms of A*-A grades. The West Midlands saw the largest increase in top grades, rising by 1.92%, while the North East also showed improvement with a 1.82% increase, no longer ranking as the lowest-performing region. The East Midlands experienced the smallest growth in top grades.
A*-A grades in Wales and Northern Ireland saw a sharp decline this year, attributed to the return to pre-pandemic grading systems in both regions. Despite this, the number of disadvantaged students securing places at universities reached a record high, according to UCAS.
In conclusion, the 2024 A-level results have revealed a slight increase in top grades and highlighted the continued popularity of subjects such as Maths, Psychology, and Biology. Regional variations in performance and the impact of returning to pre-pandemic grading systems have also been evident in this year’s results.