Psychology saw the largest increase in top grades among the most popular A-level subjects this year. Nine out of the top ten most popular subjects saw rises in the number of As and above awarded this year, while only business studies saw a drop in top grades, of 1.2 per cent. Psychology saw the largest rise, with a 5.7 per cent increase in As and above between 2025 and 2026. This was followed by physics, which saw a 5.3 per cent rise, chemistry with a 4.7 per cent rise, and economics and maths, which both saw a 4.4 per cent rise. Meanwhile art and design subjects, which saw the largest increases in top grades last year, saw just a 0.3 per cent rise this year. Here’s what the distribution of top grades looks like among the most popular subjects, and how they differ from last year Here’s the full breakdown of the most popular subject results published by the Joint Council for Qualifications this morning