Northern areas hit hardest by long-term declines in A-level grades

When this year’s A‑level results were released in August, headline figures showed increases in the proportion of top grades awarded and overall pass rates.

Yet while grades improved overall, outcry followed because the data showed the continuation of a familiar trend: the regional divide in students achieving A*/A grades.

London and the South East continued to soar ahead of regions at the opposite end of England - and data collected by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, shared with Tes, reveals the extent to which some areas have been left behind.

While most local authority areas - 118 out of the total of 153 - have seen an increase in A/A*s compared with 2019, the last year before the Covid pandemic, there are 33 where performance has not just stagnated but fallen. Data was not available for the remaining two council areas, Knowsley and the Isles of Scilly.

LA data highlights regional gaps

Of these 33 areas that showed a decline in A*/A compared with 2019, some 21 - or nearly two-thirds - are in the North.

These include eight (out of 24 local authorities) in the North West, eight (out of 12) in the North East and five (out of 15) in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Of the 12 other local authorities to record reductions in the share of top grades, four are in the South West, two each are in the East Midlands, West Midlands and East of England, and London and the South East both account for only one.

Every London borough except Lambeth showed an increase over the same period.

Across the South East, 18 of the 19 local authorities recorded increases in A*/A awards between 2019 and 2026. Only six local authorities saw an increase in top grades awarded of at least 10 percentage points: four in London and two in the South East.

Biggest reduction in top grades

Hartlepool in the North East experienced the largest reduction in A/A*s grades of any of the 151 local authorities for which there is data, falling by 7.1 percentage points between 2019 and 2026.

The only other local authorities with a downturn of 3 percentage points or more over this period were: York (in Yorkshire and the Humber, down 5.5 percentage points); Darlington (North East, down 3.7); Luton (East of England, down 3.7); Northumberland (North East, down 3.3); North Lincolnshire (Yorkshire and the Humber, down 3.2); and Torbay (South West, down 3).

The City of London was the best-performing local authority, up by 12.8 percentage points, although it does not comprise any state secondary schools. Slough, in the South East, saw a similar increase in the share of top grades (up 12.2 percentage points).

The data also indicates a disparity in the performance of local authorities in attainment of grade C or better in A-level entries, comparing 2019 with 2026.

There are 35 local authorities out of 153 (data was available for 151) that saw a reduction in grade C or higher: 17 were in the North (nine in the North West, six in the North East and two in Yorkshire and the Humber) but just six in total were in London or the South East.

Between 2019 and 2026, Hartlepool was again the local authority with the biggest downturn in attainment at grade C or higher, with entries in receipt of such grades down by 19.4 percentage points during the period, with the second-highest downturn of 7.4 percentage points found in Swindon in the South West.

Others with a drop included: York (Yorkshire and the Humber, down 7.2 percentage points); Southampton (South East, down 7.2); Leicester (East Midlands, down 5); Luton (East of England, down 4.7); Westmorland and Furness (North West, down 3.9); Blackpool (North West, down 3.9); Cheshire East (North West, down 3.7); Stockton-on-Tees (North East, down 3.4); and Sunderland (North East, down 3.1).

Henri Murison, chief executive at the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said that many council areas in the North had historically had fewer young people gaining A and A* grades at A level than other parts of England.

But he added: “From Bradford and Doncaster in Yorkshire, which previously benefitted from Opportunity Area funding before it was cut by the last Conservative government, to South Tyneside in the North East, there are a number of local authorities which have significantly improved their performance over the last year well above the wider improvement across their regions.”

Even in the face of “significant barriers”, Mr Murison said that “with focused intervention, improvement is possible”, adding: “The inequalities in results between different areas are not a reflection simply of the social and economic challenges, but the willingness of government to consistently seek to address them.”

Billy Huband-Thompson, head of research and policy at the Sutton Trust social mobility charity, told Tes that opportunity is “heavily shaped” by socioeconomic factors and geography, but he warned against oversimplifying London as an example of regional success.

“Our recent research shows that London’s top results are strongly shaped by the capital’s ethnic diversity. For some groups, including white British pupils eligible for free school meals, educational outcomes in London are not markedly better than elsewhere,” he said.

Mr Huband-Thompson stressed that assessing disparities in attainment within regions is crucial, and said ministers should seek to rebalance the national funding formula “back towards schools serving the most deprived areas”.

Professor Becky Francis, CEO of the Education Endowment Foundation, told Tes that the regional divide reflects various factors and said that no one solution will work everywhere.

Evidence-based approaches will help educators to find solutions, Professor Francis said, and the evidence is “stronger” for early intervention and high-quality teaching.

“A-level results are the end point of years of educational experience,” she told Tes. “If we’re serious about narrowing regional attainment gaps at 18, intervention needs to begin as early as possible. Our research has shown that 44 per cent of the GCSE disadvantage gap is locked in by age 11.”

‘Incredibly frustrating’ trend

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “It’s incredibly frustrating that we see these trends year after year, and yet successive governments have not been able to deliver meaningful change.

“These results are clearly being driven by structural issues, including differing levels of socioeconomic disadvantage. Uneven geography can also impact transport links and opportunities to make connections with employers and the wider community.”

He added: “This is something that will only become more pivotal as we look to strengthen technical education in the years to come. We need to see sustained investment, targeted at the communities that need it the most, and greater efforts to tackle child poverty.

“Until there is equality of opportunity across the country, the trends we have seen in the last few years are likely to continue.”

A spokesperson for Hartlepool Borough Council told Tes that some schools and colleges in the area operate independently of the council, but stressed that it continues to play “a key strategic leadership role” in improving outcomes and reducing inequalities.

The council has developed its Best Start in Life and Local Area Reform Plans to improve attainment in the early years and ensure timely support is offered, and continues to work on “a new education strategy and borough-wide education partnership”.

One way in which the government aims to address the link between socioeconomic background and attainment is through Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) initiatives, backed by professionals with “direct experience” of improving schools.

In July the DfE published nine regional plans outlining how RISE programmes will be delivered across England.