Top grades in German, French and computing leapt up again this year, while 14 out of the 15 most popular GCSE subjects saw a rise in top grades.
There was also continuity in the subjects with the highest and lowest proportions of top grades, while the overall proportion of top grades awarded rose from 22.6 per cent to 23 per cent this year.
Here are the key findings from subject level data published by the Joint Council for Qualifications today…
1. Same subjects take the most top grades …
Chemistry was again the subject with the highest proportion of top grades, with 46.4 per cent at grades 7 to 9.
This was followed by physics (45.4 per cent), biology (44.4 per cent), religious studies (31.0 per cent) and computing (29.5 per cent).
These are the same subjects that took the top grades last year.
2. … and same subjects take the least top grades
There was more continuity with last year’s results as the same subjects had the lowest proportion of grades 9 to 7.
The subject with the lowest proportion of top grades was science double award (9.1 per cent), followed by business studies (19.4 per cent), English language (19.5 per cent), English literature (20.3 per cent) and maths (21.5 per cent).
3. German, French and computing see highest rises
German, French and computing saw the highest rises in top grades this year, as they did last year.
While German saw a 6.5 per cent increase in grades 7 to 9, French saw a rise of 6.2 per cent and computing a rise of 5 per cent.
These were followed by biology, science double award and chemistry, which saw rises of 3.7 per cent, 3.4 per cent and 3.3 per cent respectively.
3. One subject saw a fall in top grades since 2024…
Looking at top grades this year compared to last, only business studies saw a fall in the proportion of grades 7 to 9 achieved this year.
While business studies saw a drop of 1 per cent top grades, the remaining 14 of the most popular GCSE subjects saw a rise in top grades of between 0.3 and 6.2 per cent.
Subjects with the smallest rises in top grades were religious studies at 0.3 per cent, English literature at 0.5 per cent, geography at 1.2 per cent and art and design subjects at 1.3 per cent.
4. … and one subject saw a fall in top grades since 2019
Comparing this year’s results with 2019, data shows a 1.9 per cent reduction in top grades for English literature.
But every other subject in the top 15 most popular GCSEs have seen higher rates of top grades compared to 2019.
German has seen a huge rise of 42.8 per cent top grades between 2019 and 2023, while computing and French have seen rises of 37.9 per cent and 26.2 per cent, respectively.
Despite having the lowest proportion of top grades, double science award has seen one of the largest boosts in top grades since pre-pandemic levels – rising from 7.5 per cent in 2019 to 9.1 per cent in 2025.
5. How top grades have changed for the 15 most popular GCSEs
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