A level outcomes by centre type



These interactive charts and tables show summaries of A level grades by centre (school or college) type in England.

Schools and colleges self-report their centre type by choosing a single category from the options shown in the chart legend (see also Q6 on the Questions and Answers tab). These categories are not mutually exclusive. This means the accuracy of the data in the visualisation below depends on how accurately and consistently schools and colleges have classified themselves.

For more explanation of these graphs and tables, click on the Questions and Answers tab.




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This visualisation shows A level outcomes at selected grade thresholds by centre type (the type of school or college) for individual subjects. Outcomes are presented as cumulative percentages. For example, selecting the grade threshold “A and above” will display the percentage of students achieving grades A or A*. The data covers the years from 2019 to 2026.

Use the menu to change the data shown in the charts and tables. You can also view the data as a chart or table.

When you hover over the chart, a pop-up box appears showing the percentage of students achieving the selected grade threshold, along with the number of centres and results used to calculate that percentage.

We changed how subjects are presented. This aligns with changes made by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) in 2026. Some subjects that used to be combined are now reported separately. For example, what was reported previously as ‘classical subjects’ is now reported separately as ancient history, Biblical Hebrew, classical civilisation, Classical Greek, and Latin. This change applies to the data for the current year and previous years. Where subject presentation has changed, the figures are different from what was published last year.

Figures in this visualisation can differ from those published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) and the Department for Education.  JCQ publishes exam results data for its member organisations on results days. The Department for Education publishes a range of education statistics, including performance measures later in the year.

Ofqual receives data directly from awarding organisations a little earlier than JCQ and the Department for Education. At that time, a small number of results are still being processed. This can lead to minor differences in the figures reported by Ofqual and JCQ. The Department for Education statistics further relate to students at the end of Key Stage 4 or 16 to 19 study in schools and colleges, while Ofqual and JCQ data include all students in England.

This interactive visualisation includes data on A level qualifications only. AS qualifications are not included.

Schools and colleges in England are included.

You can choose which schools and colleges to include in the visualisation. If you select ‘Centres with entries in all years covered’ option, your chosen subject category will only include schools and colleges which had grades awarded in all years covered by the visualisation. Comparisons between years are more meaningful when grades from the same schools and colleges are compared.

If you select the ‘All centres’ option, your chosen subject category will include all the schools and colleges which had grades awarded in each year. The number of schools and colleges with awarded grades may therefore vary from year to year.

We applied the same criteria for ‘All subjects combined’ subject group. This means that, if a school or college only offered subjects in recent years, its results will only appear in ‘All subjects combined’ category when the ‘All centres’ option is selected.

If you select the ‘Centre types’ option, the visualisation will show 9 school and college types, as categorised in the National Centre Number (NCN) register. Centre types are self-reported by schools, colleges, and other exam centres according to the following categories:

  • Academies

  • Free school

  • Further education establishment

  • Grammar schools

  • Independent or private school including city technology colleges (CTCs)

  • Local authority maintained secondary comprehensive schools

  • Secondary modern schools

  • Sixth form college

  • Other (e.g. pupil referral unit (or alternative provision), hospital, prison-educational unit, non-teaching centre, part time teaching centre, distance learning centre, independent vocational training provider)

The visualisation reports centre types as classified in the NCN register. Schools and colleges self-report their centre type by choosing a single category from the 9 options above. These categories are not mutually exclusive. This means the accuracy of the data in the visualisations depends on how accurately and consistently schools and colleges have classified themselves. However, to improve the accuracy of the grammar schools category, some grammar schools recorded in other NCN categories were reclassified as ‘Grammar schools’ using information from the Department for Education’s Get Information about Schools (GIAS) register to identify whether a school’s general admission basis was selective or non-selective.

We have used the centre type reported for the summer 2026 awards and applied this categorisation across all years in the visualisation. This may introduce a small proportion of classification errors for earlier years where schools or colleges changed categories before 2026.

If you select ‘State-funded vs Independent’ option, the visualisation will show the following three centre (school or college) types:

  • All state-funded

  • Independent or private school including city technology colleges (CTCs)

  • Other (e.g. pupil referral unit (or alternative provision), hospital, prison-educational unit, non-teaching centre, part time teaching centre, distance learning centre, independent vocational training provider)

Independent and Other categories are the same NCN categories shown in the list above. All state-funded category includes schools and colleges from the remaining NCN categories: Academies, Free school, Further education establishment, Grammar schools, Local authority maintained secondary comprehensive schools, Secondary modern schools and Sixth form college.

Subjects align with the subject list of the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). In 2026, there were changes to how subjects are presented. Some subjects that were previously combined are now reported separately. For example, what was previously listed as ‘classical subjects’ is now reported as ancient history, Biblical Hebrew, classical civilisation, Classical Greek, and Latin. These changes have been applied across all years shown in the visualisation.

We have included A level subjects from the list where:

  • there were centres with results issued in all years covered by the visualisation

  • there were centre types which had at least 10 centres and 100 results issued in all years covered by the visualisation

  • after applying these criteria, the visualisation contained at least one third of all results issued for all years covered by the visualisation.

‘All subjects combined’ is a subject group that includes all subjects. We applied the same inclusion criteria to this subject group as we did to the other subjects in the visualisation.

All valid qualification-level results issued on results days which include passing grades and ungraded results (U) are included. Outcomes representing the absence of a result (Q, X) are also issued on results days. These are not included. The absence of a result can be due to ongoing malpractice investigations, students being absent from the assessment or pending results.

Students of all ages from centres (schools and colleges) in England who took at least one A level are included.

Grading arrangements continued as normal in summer 2026, following the return to pre-pandemic grading in summer 2023. Grade boundaries are set each year to ensure that standards are maintained, and it is no easier or harder to get a grade in any given year. Further information is available in the Ofqual guide for schools and colleges, the Ofqual student guide and the Understanding grading: toolkit for schools and colleges - GOV.UK.

Arrangements for grading were different in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Exams and assessments did not go ahead in summer 2020 and 2021. Centre assessed grades were awarded in summer 2020 and teacher assessed grades were awarded in summer 2021.

In both years, national outcomes were higher than before the pandemic. Outcomes were also higher in 2022 when grading was at a midway point between summer 2019 and summer 2021.

To reduce the impact of individual candidates as well as schools and colleges on results, especially where numbers are small, we set minimum thresholds for inclusion. For each subject, a given centre (school or college) type must have at least 100 grades awarded in at least 10 schools or colleges to appear in the charts and tables.

Where subject-centre (school or college) type combinations still involve relatively few schools and colleges, the charts may reflect individual school or college patterns more than broader trends. Such cases should be interpreted with extra caution.

Some subjects may include only a limited proportion of the total grades awarded because of the inclusion criteria outlined above. Where the chart includes less than two-thirds of all grades issued in any given year, the results may not be fully representative and should be interpreted with caution.

For subjects where the visualisation would include less than one-third of all results issued in any given year, charts and tables are omitted.

The data is sent to Ofqual by awarding organisations prior to results day. When Ofqual receives the data, some results may not have been fully processed.

The results issued on results days are provisional and may be changed, for example following a review or appeal. Because results are provisional when this visualisation is published, figures here can differ from figures that reflect students’ final records of achievement.

Information on qualifications is taken from Ofqual’s Register of Regulated Qualifications.

The data used in this visualisation can also be explored in other interactive visualisations on Ofqual Analytics and as part of our statistical release on Qualification results in England.

To ensure confidentiality of the data, all figures for the number of results have been rounded to the nearest 5 per Ofqual’s rounding policy. Percentages have been calculated based on unrounded values.

Awarding organisations refer to organisations recognised by Ofqual to develop, deliver and award qualifications. Awarding organisations are also known as exam boards.

Regulated qualifications are assigned a level from entry level through to level 8. Levels reflect the demand of the qualification. Levels are assigned by the qualification’s awarding organisation with reference to Ofqual’s published level descriptors.


For any feedback on these graphs, please contact [email protected].

Return to the Ofqual Analytics home page.

If you need an accessible version of this information to meet specific accessibility requirements, please email [email protected] with details of your request.