News
A-Level results rise for 28th year in a row
19 Aug 2010
The A-Level pass rate rose for the 28th successive year, in results published today for candidates in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, increasing by 0.1% from 97.5% who passed at grades A to E in 2009.
The record high of 97.6% included an unprecedented 27% of entries that achieved an A. The results are predicted to sharpen the intense battle for places at university this year.
Just over 8% of the entries were awarded the A* grade, which was introduced this year and is meant to help the most competitive universities select the best candidates.
The results also show that girls continue to outperform boys, with 8.3% of exams awarded an A* compared with 7.9% of boys.
Today's results are the last A-Levels to have been taken, in part, under a Labour government that came to power promising to transform education.
The rise in the pass rate over the last three decades has prompted concerns that A-levels have got easier while candidates' abilities have remained the same.
Meanwhile, Britain has slipped in comparison with other countries.
According to a respected international study, the OECD's Pisa survey, the UK fell from fourth in the world for school science in 2000 to 14th six years later. It slipped from 7th to 17th for reading and eighth to 24th in maths. The findings were based on independent tests of children's ability.
Read more at The Guardian
