One in 8 still get 3 top A-level grades

AROUND one in eight sixth-formers scored at least three top grades in their A- levels this year – despite changes to the exams which made them tougher.

Official data showed that 13 per cent of students achieved the equivalent of three A* or A grades – almost the same proportion as in 2016, when 12.9 per cent got these scores.

Meanwhile, 21.8 per cent gained at least two As and a B, compared with 21.6 per cent the year before.

The changes this year at A-level removed modular AS-levels, which had been examined after the first year. The new A-levels had less coursework and instead relied on final exam marks.

Many expected the results to go down because of the reforms – reversing the grade inflation that was seen under New Labour. But the exams regulator Ofqual now makes sure the grade boundaries are set each year to produce the same proportions gaining each grade. Critics have branded it a ‘prizes for all’ mentality.

The data, from the Department for Education, also showed that fewer pupils studied for the more rigorous English Baccalaureate (EBacc) this year at GCSE as increasing numbers shunned languages.