GCSE students receiving results ‘undoubtedly affected by Covid disruption’ The Education Secretary said students showed “remarkable resilience” despite the disruption to their education The Independent UK · Aug 20, 2025
Ministers vow to tackle England’s ‘entrenched divides’ in A-level results Better-off areas set pace for raised national grades but results in north-east remain below pre-pandemic levels The Guardian - UK · Aug 14, 2025
Record A-level results but concerns raised about ‘entrenched’ regional divides The number of applicants accepted on to UK degree courses has risen to a record high this year, Ucas figures show. Evening Standard · Aug 14, 2025
More Students Have Passed Their A-Levels In 2025 Than Ever Before — Are AQA's Grade Boundaries To Thank? UK A-Level results hit record highs in 2025, sparking debate over whether AQA's grade boundaries made exams easier — here's what the data and experts say. International Business Times UK · Aug 14, 2025
A-level top grades reach record high outside of Covid years Hundreds of thousands of pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are finding out their exam results on Thursday. Evening Standard · Aug 14, 2025
Record proportion of A-level students get top grades in England Of more than 1.1m entries, 28.2% gained A or A* and 9.4% gained A*, though regional variations remain The Guardian - UK · Aug 14, 2025
Students will want universities to ‘understand context’ over grades – Ucas chief Fewer students who are receiving their post-16 results this summer met the entry requirements for A-level courses two years ago, Ucas’s boss suggests. Evening Standard · Aug 12, 2025
Top A-level grades may remain higher this year than pre-pandemic levels – expert A higher percentage of entries awarded an A or A* may be the ‘new normal’, it has been suggested. The Independent UK · Aug 8, 2025
Fears A-level grade inflation ‘may be creeping back’ with more students set for top grades The proportion of A-level entries scoring top grades this summer is likely to be higher than pre-Covid years The Independent UK · Aug 8, 2025
‘It wasn’t an error’: Ofqual boss defends regulator after withdrawn data row Ian Bauckham says data apparently showing soaring extra time in A-levels and GCSEs was misunderstood, not wrong The Guardian - UK · Aug 2, 2025
Exam board fined £350k after sending students incorrect GCSE results Those with incorrect lower grades were eventually issued their correct results The Independent UK · Jul 31, 2025
Exam board faces £350,000 fine after students received wrong GCSE results More than 1,500 pupils were awarded the incorrect results for WJEC’s Eduqas food preparation and nutrition GCSE in 2024. Evening Standard · Jul 31, 2025
Ofqual admits massively exaggerating number of students getting exam assistance Regulator for England withdraws statistics for students receiving assistance in A-Level and GCSE exams going back to 2014 The Guardian - UK · Jul 17, 2025
Ofqual data ‘significantly overstated’ number of pupils given extra exam time The exams regulator is withdrawing its statistics on access arrangements for GCSE and A-levels from 2014 to 2024 after data issues were found. The Independent UK · Jul 17, 2025
The Independent UK · Jun 12, 2025 The foreign language that is now the most popular among GCSE students The overall number of entries for this summer’s exams for both GCSEs and A-levels has decreased
Evening Standard · Jun 12, 2025 Spanish overtakes French as most popular foreign language GCSE, figures suggest Ofqual has published the provisional number of entries for GCSEs, AS and A-levels in England for this summer’s exam series.
The Guardian - UK · Apr 23, 2025 Extra exam time: why do so many schoolkids suddenly need it? Every year, more pupils are granted special ‘access arrangements’ to give them a fairer chance in GCSEs, A-levels and other exams. But with more than 600,000 arrangements in England alone, can the schools keep up? And are some students gaming the system?
Evening Standard · Feb 13, 2025 Ofqual will ‘take action’ if extra exam time given to private schools is unfair A higher proportion of independent school pupils are granted 25% extra time to complete their exams than pupils in non-selective state schools.
Evening Standard · Dec 10, 2024 AI could be used to help generate exam question papers, Ofqual chief says Sir Ian Bauckham is the Government’s preferred candidate for the chief regulator at Ofqual.
Evening Standard · Nov 7, 2024 Nearly one in three pupils in England given extra time in exams, says regulator The total number of approved special access arrangements for GCSE, AS and A-level exams rose by 12.3% in the past year, according to Ofqual data.
The Guardian - UK · Sep 13, 2024 Experts raise concerns over ‘unreliable’ marking of GCSE English Some high-achieving pupils in England received lower than expected grades that rose after being re-marked
The Independent UK · Aug 30, 2024 Warning over plans to rollout digital exams across country Plans have been made for on-screen exams
The Conversation · Aug 22, 2024 GCSE results: more young people are studying languages – but the overall picture for language learning remains bleak The 2024 GCSE results reveal that more young people in schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are opting to study a language. French and Spanish remain the most popular languages, with increases of 2.9% and 6.2% from last year respectively.
The Independent UK · Aug 22, 2024 GCSE top grades down on last year as north-south divide in England grows Hundreds of thousands of teenagers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland picked up their results on Thursday morning in a year when grades were due to be restored to 2019 levels in all three nations
Evening Standard · Aug 15, 2024 Top of the class: London students get best A-level results in the country The capital saw 31.3 per cent of students awarded an A* or A this year