STUDENTS taking A-levels are twice as likely to gain A grades as they were 20 years ago.
The proportion of papers earning an A grade rose from 8.8 per cent in 1980 to 17.6 per cent in 2000. The incidence of top grades has increased steadily during that period. Only in 1982 was there a fall in the proportion of A grades awarded.
The total number of A-level subjects taken each year has also increased. In 1980, 567,000 papers were taken, but by 2000 that had risen to 710,000.
Education junior minister Ivan Lewis was responding to a question from Liberal Democrat MP David Laws.
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