Map of GCSE (9 to 1) grade outcomes by county in England

This interactive map displays the distribution of GCSE (9 to 1) grades by subject across English counties from 2019 to 2025.

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Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2025.

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The map shows the distribution of GCSE full-course grades awarded in England by subject, county and year. It covers the summer exam series that took place in each year between 2019 and 2025. The data may be filtered to display grades awarded at specific thresholds (e.g. grade 1 and above) and by student age.

There is also an option to view subject uptake. Subject uptake is presented as the percentage of students awarded a result in the selected subject relative to all students within each county and region, and nationally.

The counties presented are the ceremonial counties of England as defined by the Lord Lieutenancies Act 1997. The map does not show individual Local Authorities. The Greater London ceremonial county also includes the City of London. An Ordnance Survey OpenData map dataset was used to define the county boundaries on the map.

The regions associated with these counties are also indicated in the data downloads and pop-up boxes. Due to the nature of the map, a one-to-one mapping of counties to regions is required. While North Yorkshire and Lincolnshire technically span two regions each, they have been assigned to the region with the largest population for each county. As a result, North Yorkshire is presented as part of Yorkshire and the Humber, while Lincolnshire is shown as part of the East Midlands for the purposes of this visualisation. Because of this, figures given for regions here can be different to those reported elsewhere, such as in our qualification results statistical release.

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 GCSE 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 for 2023 is available in our Guide to GCSE 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 GCSE 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 GCSE 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 GCSE 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.

For most subjects listed, you can choose to see results for either all students, or just students aged 16 (typically the age when GCSEs are taken). For English language and mathematics, you can filter results to show all students, students aged 16, or students aged 17 to 19. Subject uptake results are shown for all students.

The subjects shown in the "Select subject" options are GCSE subjects for which at least 2,500 students received results in summer 2025. All subjects, including small-entry subjects, are included in the "All subjects" figures.

In the 'All subjects' category, combined science results are double-weighted. For instance, a result of 9-9 counts as two 9 grades, while 9-8 is recorded as two "8 and above" grades.

Only reformed GCSE subjects are included. GCSE subjects were reformed in stages. Subjects that were not examined in their reformed version in a given year are not included for that year.

The "select view" radio box lets you choose how the map displays data for each subject: either by 'Grade outcomes' or 'Subject uptake.'

• Grade outcomes: the map shows how many results were awarded at the selected grade threshold, as a percentage of all results awarded in the chosen subject across different counties
• Subject uptake: the map shows the number of individual students who were awarded a result in the selected subject, as a percentage of all students within each county and region, and nationally

The different colours on the legend and map show the range of percentages for subject uptake or grade outcomes under the currently active selection of filters. The colours range from dark blue, representing lower percentages, to orange, representing higher percentages.

The range displayed in the legend and map is based on the minimum and maximum percentage at the specific combinations of subject, student age and year selected, and therefore will be different for different selections.

When you click on any county on the map, a pop-up box will appear. This box provides detailed information about the county based on the options you have selected, such as the year, subject, grades, and students. It also lets you compare the county's figures with the overall figures for England.

The information displayed in the pop-up box varies depending on whether you are viewing 'Grade outcomes' or 'Subject uptake.'

• Grade outcomes pop-up box will show:
  • The total number of results awarded in the county for the selected subject and age group.
  • The percentage of those results that were awarded for the selected grade in the county.
  • The percentage of those results that were awarded for the selected grade in the region.
  • The percentage of results awarded for the selected grade across all of England.
• Subject uptake pop-up box will show:
  • The total number of students in the selected county, year and age group.
  • The percentage of students in the county that were awarded a result for the selected subject, relative to all students in the county.
  • The percentage of students in the region that were awarded a result for the selected subject, relative to all students in the region.
  • The percentage of students in England that were awarded a result for the selected subject, relative to all students in England.
  • The subject's rank in the county based on the number of students with results.
  • The subject's rank in the region based on the number of students with results.
  • The subject's rank across England based on the number of students with results.

For example, in 2025, there were 8,735 results awarded in English language to 16-year-old students in Norfolk. Of those, 1.9% were grade 9. In comparison, the proportion of 16-year-olds who achieved grade 9 in English language in England was 2.9%.

We use rounding wherever it is needed to make sure that our data does not reveal the identity of an individual or any private information about them.

For data in the 'Grade outcomes' view:

• Numbers are rounded to the nearest five. If fewer than 25 results were issued for the selected subject, student age group, and grade threshold combination, it is displayed as "fewer than 25".
• A value of "0" indicates that no students of the selected age achieved that grade or result for that subject in the selected county.
• Percentages are calculated using unrounded numbers of results, but are themselves rounded to 1 decimal place. Percentages less than 0.1 but greater than 0 are displayed as "less than 0.1".

For data in the 'Subject uptake' view:

• Numbers are rounded to the nearest five.
• Percentages are calculated using unrounded student numbers, but are themselves rounded to 1 decimal place. Percentages less than 0.1 but greater than 0 are displayed as "less than 0.1".

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

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.

If you are using a laptop or desktop computer, you can scroll up, down, left, and right using the arrow keys. You can also move the map by holding the left mouse button and dragging. If you are on a mobile or a tablet, you can scroll the map using two fingers.

The ‘reset view’ button will reset the zoom and map location to the default zoom level and a centered location within the map panel.

You can use the zoom bar on the left-hand side of the map to zoom in or out. You can also center and zoom in to a location of your choosing by double-clicking on the location (or double-tapping if you are using a mobile or a tablet). You can focus the map to a specific county by either selecting from the "Search for county" drop-down menu, or searching by typing the county name inside the drop down box.

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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.