New data on provisional entries for GCSE retakes in the November series published today by Ofqual revealed that while total entries have fallen compared with numbers seen in 2020, they have not fallen back to 2019 levels.

Here are the headline figures:

GCSEs 2020: Bumper top grades in November resits

GCSE English and maths: Entries soar by 20 per cent

Background: GCSE resits in maths and English up by over 50 per cent

Retakes are down from 2020

Total entries in English language and maths fell by 13 per cent compared with those seen in 2020, reflecting the higher levels of satisfaction with grades in 2021 compared with last year, and is now just higher than entry levels in 2019.

Entries for English language decreased by 15 per cent from 59,185 in 2020 to 50,345 this year, while entries for mathematics decreased by 12 per cent from 72,115 in 2020 to 63,695 this year.

Overall, entries in English language and mathematics fell by 13 per cent from 131,300 in 2020 to 114,040 this year.

The proportion of top grades awarded for GCSEs increased by 11 per cent following the cancellation of exams and switch to teacher-assessed grades this year.

Year 13 entries fell while Year 12 entries rose slightly

Year 12 entries rose by 4 per cent from 62,565 in 2020 to 64,830 in 2021, but total Year 13 entries fell by over a quarter (29 per cent) from 67,450 in 2020 to 47,830 in 2021.

In English language, Year 12 entries went up by 3 per cent compared to 2020 but entries from Year 13 and above fell by a third (33 per cent). Meanwhile, mathematics entries increased by 4 per cent for Year 12 candidates, but the biggest change was for Year 13 and above, where entries fell by more than a quarter (26 per cent) compared with 2020.

Year 13 entries are now lower than they were in 2019 when public exams went ahead, with 47,830 entries in Year 13 and above this year compared with 49,400 in 2019.

Year 11 retakes remain higher than in 2019

As in 2020, entries at Year 11 and below were higher in 2021 than in previous years, with 1,380 students entered for retakes in 2021.

Since 2017, November retake entry has been limited to students who were aged 16 or above on 31 August of the year of the November series.

“In 2020 and 2021, any students, including younger students, who were entered in the summer and wished to do so could sit these exams,” the government said.

Outside of English language and maths, English lit, other modern languages and combined science have the highest retake numbers

Outside of English and maths, there are 5,700 entries for GCSE subjects in England for the autumn series, representing 0.2 per cent of the total entries in the summer 2021 exam series (3,771,440 for subjects other than English language and mathematics) and 31 per cent of the total entries in the autumn 2020 series (18,450).

Subjects with the highest numbers of candidates entering are English literature, other modern languages and combined science.

There are 825 entries for other modern languages, 955 for English literature and 1,170 for combined science.

The total retaking subjects other than English language and maths is less than a third of the total in 2020, when 18,450 entered subjects outside English language and maths.

Higher EBacc entries than summer

In total, 82 per cent of entries (4,685) are in English Baccalaureate qualifications, a slightly higher proportion than was seen in the summer 2021 entries (75 per cent across all subjects except English language and mathematics).