UK · 21 August 2026

GCSE top grades edge up as pass rate slips back

Hundreds of thousands of teenagers collected GCSE results on Thursday, with top grades edging up to 23.1% of entries in England while the standard pass rate slipped to 67.3%, its pre-pandemic level. The gap between girls and boys at grade 7 narrowed to 4.8 points, the smallest this century. London led the regions on 28.6%, with the north east lowest at 17.7%.

By BriefTea Editorial · 21 August 2026 at 10:28

Reported by Schools Week · How we write briefs

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What are GCSEs for? Who decides GCSE grades? Why did grades change? Why the regional gap?

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