This year’s A-level results have seen a substantial rise in the proportion of A and A* grades being awarded across the board.
But how did individual subjects fare, and where were the largest rises in top grades seen in this year’s results?
When compared with last year’s results, outcomes at Grade A/A* increased to the greatest extent in music, with a 13.1 percentage point rise in the proportion of students achieving the top grades, followed by physical education (+11.1 percentage points) and design and technology (+9.4 percentage points).
A levels 2021:
Other sciences had the smallest gain at Grade A/A*, with a rise of just 2.8 percentage points, while further maths (+4.0 percentage points) also saw a limited boost.
At Grade A*, the greatest increase was in other modern languages (+19.2 percentage points), followed by German (+11.2 percentage points) and music (+10.5 percentage points). The smallest rise was in other sciences (+0.8 percentage points).
Music has the biggest rise on 2019
Looking back over two years, to 2019, the subjects with the greatest increases in Grade A/A* differ slightly.
Music is still in the top spot, with a massive 35.2 percentage points rise in the proportion of students achieving the best results.
Second and third place instead go to other modern languages, with a 30.7 percentage points rise, and drama, with a boost of 30.3 percentage points.
The smallest increase was in maths, which saw a 13.9 percentage points rise over the two years.
The 10 subjects with the greatest rise in A*/A on 2020 were:
1. Music
2. Physical education
3. Design and technology
4. German
5. Drama
6. Spanish
7. Other modern languages
8. Performing/expressive arts
9. Psychology
10. Computing
The 10 subjects with the greatest rise in A*/A on 2019 were:
1. Music
2. Other modern languages
3. Drama
4. Spanish
5. Performing/expressive arts
6. Physical education
7. German
8. Classical subjects
9. Computing
10. Design and technology
