Students getting 3 A grades or better at A level
Published
1. Main facts and figures
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16.1% of all students got 3 A grades or better at A level in the 2022 to 2023 academic year
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27.4% of students from the Chinese ethnic group got 3 A grades or better – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
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4.9% of students from the black Caribbean ethnic group got at least 3 A grades – the lowest percentage after the Irish Traveller (0.0%), and Gypsy and Roma ethnic groups (2.6%), whose figures are based on small numbers of students and are less reliable as a result
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13.6% of white British students got 3 A grades or better
Further research
A recent report by Ofqual explored differences in A level students’ grades, also with the probability of them getting a grade A and above, or grade C and above.
Ofqual compared the white British group (the largest ethnic group) with other ethnic groups of the same gender, special educational needs status, free school meals eligibility, first language, income deprivation, prior attainment, first language region and centre type. It found that, from 2019 to 2023, black Caribbean students were less likely than white British students to get a grade C or above, and mixed white and black African students had slightly better outcomes than white British students. Mixed white and black Caribbean students were slightly less likely than white British students to get a grade A or above.
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures the percentage of 16 to 18 year old students in England who entered at least one A level or applied A level and got 3 A grades or better.
A level qualifications include:
- A or AS levels
- applied single A or AS levels
- applied double A or AS levels
- combined A or AS level
Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place – download the data for percentages rounded to 3 decimal places.
The ethnic groups used in the data
The ethnic groups are based on the 18 ethnic groups used in the 2011 Census, with 3 exceptions:
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there are separate categories for Traveller of Irish heritage, and Gypsy and Roma students
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the Chinese ethnic group has its own category and is not part of the Asian ethnic group
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there is no separate Arab ethnic group within the ‘other’ ethnic group
Ethnicity was not known for 17.8% of students. This is mainly because students at independent schools do not have their ethnicity recorded in the school census.
Students whose ethnicity was not known are included in the figures for ‘All’ ethnicities, and results for this group are shown in the table.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology for the data used on this page.
Some of the data is based on small numbers of students – this makes it difficult to make reliable generalisations.
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | % | Students in cohort |
|---|---|---|
| All | 16.1 | 221,694 |
| Asian | 15.0 | 29,827 |
| Bangladeshi | 10.4 | 4,795 |
| Indian | 21.1 | 10,027 |
| Pakistani | 10.3 | 9,025 |
| Asian other | 15.3 | 5,980 |
| Black | 7.9 | 12,140 |
| Black African | 8.6 | 9,227 |
| Black Caribbean | 4.9 | 1,517 |
| Black other | 6.6 | 1,396 |
| Chinese | 27.4 | 1,523 |
| Mixed | 14.4 | 11,257 |
| Mixed white and Asian | 18.5 | 3,438 |
| Mixed white and black African | 10.2 | 1,412 |
| Mixed white and black Caribbean | 9.3 | 1,754 |
| Mixed other | 14.5 | 4,653 |
| White | 13.8 | 122,993 |
| White British | 13.6 | 110,420 |
| White Irish | 17.6 | 783 |
| Gypsy or Roma | 2.6 | 38 |
| Irish Traveller | 0.0 | 18 |
| White other | 15.0 | 11,734 |
| Other | 11.6 | 4,577 |
| Unknown | 27.5 | 39,377 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Students getting 3 A grades or better at A level By ethnicity Summary
The data shows that:
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16.1% of all students got 3 A grades or better at A level in the 2022 to 2023 academic year
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27.4% of students from the Chinese ethnic group got 3 A grades or better – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups, followed by students from the Indian ethnic group (21.1%)
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4.9% of students from the black Caribbean ethnic group got at least 3 A grades – the lowest percentage after the Irish Traveller (0.0%), and Gypsy and Roma ethnic groups (2.6%), whose figures are based on small numbers of students and are less reliable as a result
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13.6% of white British students got 3 A grades or better
4. Data sources
Source
A level and other 16 to 18 results: 2023 (revised)
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Department for Education
Note on corrections or updates
Data can be provisional, revised or final. Data for 2022 to 2023 is revised. Data for the 2 academic years ending in August 2021 is final.
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The main purpose of this data is to measure the performance of schools and colleges and their students. This is to monitor and improve standards and inform parental and student choice.
5. Download the data
measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type, geography, geography_type, geography_code, age, value, value_type, denominator and version