Variability in A level results for schools and colleges

Interactive Visualisation
Questions and Answers Q&A

This interactive visualisation shows the centre variability at grade A and above for selected larger entry subjects in A level.

For more explanation of these charts, click on the Questions and Answers tab, and read the reports on A level centre variability in previous years.

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Subject:

Entry stability:

All centres Centres with stable entry numbers

Age group:

All ages Aged 18

Centre size:

20+ 40+ 60+

Display

Chart Table

Current year-on-year comparison

Historic year-on-year comparisons

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

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

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This interactive visualisation shows the year-on-year variation seen in centres (schools or colleges) in England at grade A and above for a particular A level subject.

The top-left graph shows year-on-year variability, that is outcomes in the current year relative to the previous one (ie between summer 2025 and summer 2024); all subsequent graphs show outcomes in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019 are each shown in comparison to the previous year (eg between summer 2024 and summer 2023).

For each graph:

each bar represents the number of centres with a particular level of variation, measured in intervals of 2.5 percentage points. For example, the bar immediately to the right of zero on the x-axis represents centres that had an increase of up to 2.5 percentage points (ie centres where up to 2.5% more students received grade A and above, compared to the previous year).
bars to the right of zero indicate centres with increases in the percentage of students receiving grade A and above. Bars to the left indicate centres with decreases in the percentage of students receiving grade A and above. The bars further away from zero indicate centres with larger changes in outcomes between years.
the higher the peaks in the middle and the narrower the distributions, the greater the stability from one year to the next (see Q12. How should we interpret the standard deviation [SD]).

This interactive visualisation includes data on A level qualifications.

We only include schools and colleges that have an entry (in both years) of at least 20 students in the subject in question. We do not include schools and colleges with smaller entries because just one or two students' grades can make the centre appear to have quite a lot of variability. Also, each graph shows data for schools and colleges which have entries above 20 in both years covered in that graph. Schools and colleges which had an entry in only one of the two years shown in a graph are not included. The graphs represent all types of schools and colleges (eg comprehensive, academy, free school, independent etc).

You can choose to see centre variability according to all students in the centres, regardless of age; or to see centre variability just for students aged 18 at the end of the academic year (ie students in year 13), the target age for A levels. This can be done by adjusting the 'Age group' settings in the panel at the top of the page.

We have included those subjects at A level which have a large enough entry to support the analysis. These are subjects with an entry of 10,000 or more students and with 20 or more centres that have more than 20 students in the subject in question.

All of the subjects are grouped using the subject groupings established by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). Most groupings contain a single subject, but some groupings contain multiple subjects.

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

Grading in summer 2025 and 2024 continued as normal following the return to pre-pandemic standards in summer 2023. Further information for 2025 is available in the Ofqual guide for schools and colleges, the Ofqual student guide 2025 and the Understanding grading: toolkit for schools and colleges. Further information for 2024 is available in our Guide to AS and A level results for England, summer 2024.

In summer 2023 the aim was to return to pre-pandemic grading. As in any year, grade boundaries were set based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative evidence. The return to pre-pandemic grading means that national results were lower than in summer 2022. Further information is available in our Guide to AS and A level results for England, summer 2023.

Awarding in summer 2022 was at a midway point between summer 2019 and summer 2021. As in any year, grade boundaries were set based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative evidence. Further information is available in our Guide to AS and A level results in England, summer 2022.

Ahead of summer 2021, the government determined that many exams and assessments could not be held fairly because of the disruption students had faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers were asked instead to submit grades to the exam boards, based on their assessment of what students have shown they know and can do, enabling progression to the next stage of education, training, or employment. Further information is available in our Guide to AS and A level results for England, 2021.

The summer 2020 exam series was cancelled due to the measures put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students were awarded either their centre assessment grade or the calculated grade, whichever was the higher. Further information about the alternative arrangements for awarding in summer 2020 is available in our Guide to AS and A level results for England, 2020.

In 2020 and 2021, when GCSE, AS and A level grades were determined by teachers, national outcomes were higher than prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Outcomes were also higher than pre-pandemic in 2022 when grading was at a midway point between summer 2019 and summer 2021. For more information see Ofqual’s approach to grading exams and assessments in summer 2022 and autumn 2021.

In these charts, it is possible to view data for 'all centres' or 'centres with stable entry numbers'. This can be done by adjusting the 'Entry stability' settings in the panel at the top of the page. Centres with stable entry numbers are those centres which entered very similar numbers of students in the subject in both years shown in a graph. By very similar numbers we mean within +/- 15% of the comparison year. These centres typically show less variation in results. This is probably because large changes in entry in a subject within a centre likely means other things have changed such as the overall profile of students or the nature of provision for the teaching of the subject."

The mean on each chart is the average difference compared between the two comparison years for all of the centres presented in the chart. For example, a mean of -0.6% indicates that, on average, centres had a 0.6% drop in the number of students attaining a grade A and above at A level.

The standard deviation (SD on the charts) is a measure of the spread of the variation around the mean - a lower SD means there is less variation overall whereas a higher standard deviation means there is more variation. A small SD means that all centres had a similar change from one year to the next.

We include multiple charts which can help to interpret the SD. In general, where specifications and overall cohorts have not changed, we might expect the SDs to be reasonably similar between charts, although the impacts of the pandemic may affect the SD between years. Some of the subjects at A level are newer and have been assessed over fewer years and so we might expect to see increased variability in these subjects as centres become familiar with the new content and assessments. More information on the A level reform timetable is available on the Ofqual website.

Where charts have a small number of centres presented (ie less than 50), they need to be interpreted with additional caution. Where the combinations selected (of subject, stability, centre size, etc.) produce charts with a relatively small number of centres, these charts say little about the overall picture, and more about the individual centres. For this reason, only charts with more than 20 centres are displayed.

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 initiated by the student or their school or college. Because results are provisional when this visualisation is published, figures may differ from figures that reflect student’s final records of achievement.

Our figures may differ slightly from those published by the Department for Education (DfE) and JCQ. There may be differences in data processing, rounding and when data was collected from awarding organisations.

We are publishing this data so that students, schools, policy makers and the public can easily access and explore information on qualifications and outcomes.

For any feedback on these charts, 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.