A-Level Results Day 2019: How Many UK Students Awarded A or A* Grades?

A-Levels 2019 results have been announced in the UK, and the number of students with an A-grade or A* has decreased to the lowest level since 2007.  In 2007,  25.3% of entries got an A or A* grade, while this year the number was 25.5%. The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) published the numbers that cover A-level entries from students in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The Typical Student team learned the A-Levels statistic 2019. 

A-Levels 2019: Key Facts

• Male students outperformed their female classmates in the highest result.
• However, in 2019, there were more entries for A-level science subjects from female students compared to male students. 
• As for foreign languages, Spanish has become the most popular foreign language at A-level.
• 25.5% of entries handed from female students got at least an A, compared with 25.4% of boys - a gap of 0.1 percentage points.
• However, as far as A* grades are concerned, male students outperformed female students (with 8.2% of entries compared with 7.5%, respectively).

More Female Students Are Engaging In Science

In 2019, there were more entries for biology, chemistry and physics A-levels from female than from male students. 84,111 entries from girls vs 83,133 entries from boys. Female students are predominantly taking biology and chemistry, while male students are "more likely to take physics." This is proven by three times as many entries than their female counterparts (30,159 compared with 8,799).

Math Results

The leaked documents suggest students 'scoring just over half marks in A-level maths will be rewarded with an A grade,' Mirror reports. According to the Edexcel's math grade boundaries, students who got 165 out of a possible maximum of 300 marks (55%) will get an A grade. Other documents suggest that students who took the OCR exam board's A-level maths qualification will be awarded an A if they get 54% across all papers (161 out of 300). In 2018, the grade boundaries differed: "184 marks (61%) were needed for an A grade in Edexcel's maths A-level, while for OCR's qualification in the subject, the required mark was 197 (66%)."