GCSE Pass Rate Holds at 67.3% as England’s Regional Gap Widens to 9.3 Points
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 20
GCSE Pass Rate Holds at 67.3% as England’s Regional Gap Widens to 9.3 Points
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 20
Summary
67.3% of GCSE grades across England, Wales and Northern Ireland were awarded at 4/C or above, virtually unchanged from 67.4% last year and matching the 2019 pre-pandemic level.
24.3% of England’s maths and English entries came from candidates aged 17 and over, and their low pass rates—19.8% in English language and 15.3% in maths—pulled down overall subject results.
Girls still outperformed boys, but the gap narrowed to a record-low 5.8 points because girls’ results slipped again while boys’ grades edged up slightly.
London posted England’s highest pass rate at 71.7% and the West Midlands the lowest at 62.4%, widening the regional gap to 9.3 points despite government pledges to reduce inequality.
Computing entries fell 7.1% to 85,000, the steepest subject decline, with Cambridge OCR suggesting AI tools may be discouraging some students from learning to code.