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29 April 2026

Author: Nick Linford

What would it take to break the link between A level results and family income?

From students jumping in the air, to accusations that exams are getting easier, A-Level results day wouldn’t be the same without the usual clichés. But what goes on behind those headlines? There are the young people who defied expectation and achieved brilliant results, usually with the support of teachers and parents who struggled to ensure […]

What policy conclusions can we draw from the A Level results in 2015?

Politicians often claim that results show their favoured policy reform worked – but do this year’s figures stand up to scrutiny? Editor Laura McInerney checks out the data.   Forty-five minutes after the release of today’s A level results a statement from schools minister Nick Gibb popped into my inbox, headed with three statements:   […]

So after all the huffing about A level resits – it matters exactly 0.1%

Today’s A level results have moved at fingernail pace. The overall pass rate is up 0.1% and the proportion of A* and A grades has moved down 0.1%. Don’t all faint with excitement, please. But there’s an important policy lesson here. This cohort were the first to sit AS and A2 exams without January resits. […]

A level results 2015: Trends & Stats from the National Data

A level results are out and here’s a round up of the main stats and figures: Overall Performance The number of A* and As has decreased but only by a tiny 0.1 percentage points to 25.9 per cent. By contrast the overall A*-E pass rate has risen by 0.1 percentage points, to 98.1 per cent. […]

How Schools Week is going to report A Level results day… and why

Ahead of tomorrow’s A level results day we thought it worth explaining how we plan to report the day, and the thinking behind it. ___________   For the past two weeks I’ve canvassed opinion on what people dislike about media coverage of results days – A level and GCSEs – and what they would like […]

A Level Results Day: “No major changes” says qualification body JCQ

“No major system changes, no major outcome changes, no major entry changes” said qualifications joint council JCQ –  as this year’s A level result revealed just a 0.1 percentage point increase in the overall pass rate to 98.1 per cent. The percentage of top A* grades also remained unchanged at 8.2 per cent, and A […]

How can teachers help during UCAS Clearing?

A level results day can be traumatic for students who miss their university offer grades – but what can teachers do to help?   It can be devastating if pupils you’ve worked with for years misses the grades they need to take their university place. UCAS Clearing can help students find a place despite their […]

Andy Burnham and the too-vague really-lame education policy

“I will restore a local role in overseeing schools, rejecting the growing market of free schools and academies.” That’s it. That’s Andy Burnham’s big school vision as outlined in his manifesto. He will restore a local role in overseeing schools and new schools will not be academies. What a weird thing to pledge. For a […]

OCR’s exam results near-miss: what went wrong?

Ofqual’s report into events at the exam board last summer which almost led to them failing to release A level results on time gives us an insight into what went wrong. Here, Freddie Whittaker brings you the highlights… OCR had a LOT more papers to mark last summer 900,000 in fact, as a result of […]