London has pulled further ahead of England’s other regions in this year’s GCSE results
The gap has widened between the proportion of GCSE entries in London awarded the top grades and those in both northern England and the Midlands, exam results show.
Some 28.6% of entries in the capital received grade 7 or above this year, up from 28.4% in 2025 and the highest for any region in England. North-east England had the lowest figure, with 17.7% of entries awarded at least a 7, down from 17.8% last year.
It means the gap between these two regions now stands at 10.9 percentage points, up from 10.6 in 2025 and the largest since the start of available data in 2010.
In north-west England, 18.9% of entries received grade 7 or above, up slightly from 18.8% in 2025. The gap between London and the North West has widened to 9.7 points from 9.6 in 2025, close to the recent record of 9.9 points in 2024.
There has also been a widening of the gap between London and both the East and West Midlands, to the largest size since at least 2010.
In the East Midlands, 18.2% of entries received grade 7 or above, 10.4 points behind London (up from 10.3 points in 2025), while in the West Midlands it was 18.3% of entries, 10.3 points behind London (up from 9.9).
The regional patterns are more varied for GCSE entries awarded grade 4 or above. London again has the highest rate at 71.7%, up from 71.6% in 2025, but here it is the West Midlands that has the lowest figure, at 62.4%, down from 62.9%.
South-west England saw the largest percentage-point drop, falling from 69.1% to 68.3%. The gap has narrowed between the capital and north-east England, from 6.7 points to 6.5, with the North East seeing a rise in entries awarded grade 4 or above from 64.9% to 65.2%.
At a national level, 31.7% of entries in Northern Ireland received grade 7/A or higher, above the equivalent figure for England (21.8%) and Wales (19.6%).
For entries awarded 4/C or higher, Northern Ireland was ahead at 83.6%, some way above England (67.0%) and Wales (62.3%).
Here are the percentages of GCSE entries awarded the top grades of 7/A or higher by nation and region in 2026, with the equivalent figures for 2025 and the pre-pandemic year of 2019:
- – North-east England 17.7% (2025: 17.8%; 2019: 16.4%)
- – North-west England 18.9% (2025: 18.8%; 2019: 18.6%)
- – Yorkshire & the Humber 19.0% (2025: 18.4%; 2019: 17.8%)
- – West Midlands 18.3% (2025: 18.5%; 2019: 18.1%)
- – East Midlands 18.2% (2025: 18.1%; 2019: 18.3%)
- – Eastern England 22.0% (2025: 22.2%; 2019: 20.5%)
- – South-west England 21.0% (2025: 21.4%; 2019: 20.4%)
- – South-east England 24.5% (2025: 24.6%; 2019: 23.5%)
- – London 28.6% (2025: 28.4%; 2019: 25.7%)
- – England 21.8% (2025: 21.8%; 2019: 20.7%)
- – Wales 19.6% (2025: 19.5%; 2019: 18.4%)
- – Northern Ireland 31.7% (2025: 31.6%; 2019: 30.5%)
- – All 22.0% (2025: 21.9%; 2019: 20.8%)
- Here are the percentages of GCSE entries awarded 4/C or higher, by nation and region:
- – North-east England 65.2% (2025: 64.9%; 2019: 63.8%)
- – North-west England 63.9% (2025: 64.2%; 2019: 64.9%)
- – Yorkshire & the Humber 64.2% (2025: 63.6%; 2019: 64.1%)
- – West Midlands 62.4% (2025: 62.9%; 2019: 63.8%)
- – East Midlands 65.0% (2025: 65.0%; 2019: 65.8%)
- – Eastern England 67.6% (2025: 68.0%; 2019: 67.1%)
- – South-west England 68.3% (2025: 69.1%; 2019: 68.3%)
- – South-east England 70.0% (2025: 70.0%; 2019: 70.2%)
- – London 71.7% (2025: 71.6%; 2019: 70.6%)
- – England 67.0% (2025: 67.1%; 2019: 67.1%)
- – Wales 62.3% (2025: 62.5%; 2019: 62.8%)
- – Northern Ireland 83.6% (2025: 83.5%; 2019: 82.2%)
- – All 67.3% (2025: 67.4%; 2019: 67.3%)
It comes as the proportion of GCSE entries awarded top grades has risen from last year but the rate scoring a decent pass has returned to pre-pandemic levels, national figures show. The gap in results between boys and girls has shrunk again, and is at its narrowest point this century.
More students aged 17 and above took English and maths this year – likely driven by pupils in England having to retake those subjects after failing to achieve the key pass rate – but results have worsened.
Hundreds of thousands of pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland received GCSE grades and technical awards on Thursday morning to help them progress on to sixth form, college or training.
All year 11 students are able to view their results in an app for the first time this summer following a successful trial last year.
More than a fifth (22.0%) of UK entries were awarded the top grades – at least a 7 or an A grade – this year, up by 0.1 percentage points on last year, when 21.9% achieved the top grades.
This was higher than in 2019, the last year before the pandemic, when 20.8% of entries achieved the top grades.
The figures, published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), cover GCSE entries from students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The proportion of entries getting at least a 4 or a C grade – considered a “standard pass” – has fallen from 67.4% in 2025 to 67.3% this year – a drop of 0.1 percentage points, and the same as in 2019.
Many of the pupils who are receiving their GCSE results this summer were in Year 5 when schools closed because of Covid-19, meaning their secondary education was not disrupted by the height of the pandemic.
In England, students who do not secure at least a grade 4 in English and/or maths GCSE are typically required to retake the subjects during post-16 education.
The proportion of post-16 UK entries for English rose by 6.5% on last year, but the rate of scoring a decent pass decreased by 1.4 percentage points.
For maths, the proportion of entries increased by 5.8% but the rate of achieving a 4 was down 1.7 percentage points on 2025.
Education Secretary Lucy Powell said repeated resits lead to us “branding (students) as a failure” and affecting self-confidence.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “That’s why we’re going to be looking at that, and I’m going to be bringing in a new stepping stone qualification, as we’re calling it, a level one… in maths and in English, so that there is an additional qualification that young people can work towards. And I want to work with employers to make sure that that qualification is credible, is respected, and that employers see that as sufficient or more than sufficient for young people to go on to do things like an apprenticeship in construction or health and social care.”
Boys have continued to close the gender gap.
Overall, nearly a quarter (24.4%) of girls’ GCSE entries were awarded at least a grade 7/A compared with almost a fifth of boys’ entries (19.6%): a 4.8 percentage point gap, down from a difference of 5.1 last year.
Meanwhile, 70.2% of girls’ GCSE entries were awarded at least a grade 4/C compared with 64.4% of boys’ entries – a 5.8 percentage point gap, a decrease from 6.2 last year.
These are the narrowest leads enjoyed by girls since at least 2000, which is the earliest archive data available.
Education experts raised long-standing concerns over the gender disparity ahead of results.
The Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys (CPRMB) said the disparities at GCSE level, and in education more widely, can mean boys struggle to thrive after leaving school.
CPRMB research officer Martha Lucas told the Press Association: “When around a third of boys’ entries to GCSE are consistently not meeting a grade four each year, which is the standard pass level, it is a massive concern.
“For a lot of employment, meeting that grade four in maths and English is a barrier to finding that employment.
“This year, the number of male Neets (not in education, employment or training) hit more than 500,000.
“So, boys are consistently leaving school without the qualifications nor education necessary for them to thrive in adult life – get a job, be in employment – and quite frankly that desperately needs to change.”
Ms Lucas said the gender gap starts to emerge when children are as young as five, adding that girls are “consistently outperforming boys in education”.
The gap in top grades between London – the best performing region – and the North East – the worst performing – has widened to a record high of 10.9 percentage points up from 10.6 last year.
Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, told PA: “It is a damning indictment of 21st-century Britain that where you happen to grow up has such a profound impact on your educational and life chances.
“Something is fundamentally amiss when children with the same talents and potential face such different prospects simply because of where they happen to live.
“England’s educational divide is a story of London increasingly pulling away from much of the rest of the country.
“But these broad regional divides conceal an even more troubling geography of opportunity: sometimes a few streets, or a different postcode, can make the difference between a life of opportunity and a life of overlooked talent.”
While traditional A*-G grades are used in Northern Ireland and Wales, in England these have been replaced with a 9-1 system, where 9 is the highest.
A 4 is broadly equivalent to a C grade and a 7 is broadly equivalent to an A.
Overall entries for GCSEs have risen slightly – up 0.6% on 2025 – after dropping last year.
The overall rate for grades 1/G or above is 97.9%, which is the same as 2025 but is down on 98.3% in 2019.
In England, Ofqual brought GCSE grading standards back in line with pre-Covid levels in 2023, and exam regulators in Wales and Northern Ireland returned to pre-pandemic grading the year after.
The move came after Covid-19 led to an increase in top GCSE grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams.
