A Level and GCSE results remain stable as shifts in entry patterns impact at subject level.

A Level results remained largely stable from 2014:

• The number of students achieving A* and A grades was down 0.1% to 25.9%
• 98.1% of grades were between A* to E - an identical proportion of passing grades to the prior year
• 850,749 A Levels were taken in total.

Results day revealed a move towards more ‘traditional’ A Level subject choices. The number of students studying maths for example has increased over 20% in the past 5 years, and among the STEM subjects, computing saw the biggest rise in exam entries, with a 29.1% increase since 2014.

Mathematics remains the most popular A Level, with 10.9% of all entries. English is second with 10.5% and Biology third with 7.4%.

Compared to 2014, A Level results showed entries have risen in:

• Computing - up by 29.1%
• Geography - up by 12.7%
• English literature - up by 7.1%
• History - up by 7.1%
• Further maths - up by 6.9%
• Maths - up by 4.4%
• Modern foreign languages - up by 3.8%.

These results translated into 409,000 students being accepted to universities on results day, up 3% against A Level results day in 2014. This is the highest number of acceptances recorded on A Level results day, and includes 362,000 students accepted to their first choice, again up by 3%.

Entries for the Extended Project - a qualification that develops skills in research and writing - increased marginally by 1% to 33,564, following years of rapid growth (39.3% increase in the last 5 years).

At a national level there was also very little change in this year’s GCSE results:

• A* grades declined marginally by 0.1% to 6.6%, as did grades A*-A falling to 21.2%
• Grades A*-C increased 0.2% to 69%
• Overall, the number of GCSEs taken increased 1.2% to 5,277,604.

However, changes in educational policies had an effect on entry patterns and results at a subject level. This was particularly the case in English and mathematics – the only subjects in which resits are now available.

Compared to 2014, 2015 figures showed GCSE entries rise in:

• Computer Science - up 18,641 (111.1%)
• Engineering - up 1,882 (37.4%)
• Science - up 20,523 (5.5%)
• Maths - up 24,827 (3.4%).

As expected, 16 year olds made up the greatest proportion of entries but as of this year, students in England who did not achieve a grade C in either maths or English continued to study that subject post-16, which explains the rise in entries from 17 year olds. Entries by 15 year olds dropped 13.4%, impacted by the ‘first entry counts’ policy, which was introduced in England in autumn 2013.

Detailed results statistics by A Level and GCSE subject, grade and gender are available on the Joint Council for Qualifications website.