Gap between south and rest of England widens

The GCSE results gap between the south and the rest of England has widened.

This year’s results reveal London as the highest-performing region, with 72.5% of entries graded as at least 4/C, while the West Midlands is lowest-performing with a pass rate of 63.1%.

This is a 9.4 percentage point gap, up from 8.7 last year and higher again from 2019 when the gap was 6.8 percentage points.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has vowed “to make sure everyone’s path is determined by their talent, skills and ambition, not where you come from”.

Most students receiving results were in Year 7 when the first Covid lockdowns were announced, so have spent every year of their secondary education in the midst, or the wake, of the pandemic.

The pandemic disrupted children differently because of a range of factors, including how their part of the country was affected and how much access they had to technology at home.

MPs warned last year it could take a decade for the gap between disadvantaged pupils and others to narrow to what it was before the pandemic.

Education professionals suggest regional inequalities may have been worsened by the pandemic and inadequate school budgets.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “Schools do their best to support pupils and close those gaps but they cannot do this alone…

“Unfortunately, the previous government failed to provide anything like the resources needed.”

Chris Zarraga, director of Schools North East, which represents more than 1,000 schools in the region, said the results “continue to map the disproportionate impact of the pandemic and cost-of-living crises, as well as the long-term perennial educational challenges that regions like the north east face”,

Overall, the GCSE pass rate for students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland fell for the third year running, to 2019 levels, with 67.6% of entries graded at least 4/C, compared with 68.2% last year.

The percentage of passes rose in 2020 and 2021, when exams were cancelled because of Covid.

This year’s fall was steeper in Wales and Northern Ireland than in England, where grades were brought back in line with pre-pandemic levels last year.

Khalil Suddle was always confident, says one of his teachers. She remembers how after his mocks, he announced: “Someone call the emergency services. It’s 999.”

Now, holding his nine 9s at his school in Barnet, north London, he tells BBC Newsbeat: “People are going to think I cheated… I’m thankful really, pretty speechless.”

Khalil’s year group started their secondary education online because of the Covid pandemic and the student says he is proof that it is never too late to overcome setbacks.

“Throughout Covid, I was just playing games,” he says.

“I wasn’t paying attention, so this is a bit of a comeback at the end.

“If you work hard enough, anything’s achievable.”

He stands with his friend and classmate Ethan Cicopalus, who has bagged six 9s and three 8s.

“It’s slightly better than I was expecting, especially for German,” says Ethan.

The pair will both be back in September to start their A-levels – but first it is time to celebrate.

Last year, fewer passes in English and maths GCSE exams meant more students in England needed to resit.

In England this year, the change was marginal compared with last year.

Across the three nations, the proportion of GCSEs marked at 4/C or higher is:

• 67.4% in England, down from 67.8% last year
• 61.7% in Wales, down from 64.5%
• 82% in Northern Ireland, down from 86.6%

Some students in Wales and Northern Ireland could feel disappointed but, for regulators in the two nations, it was always the plan for grades to fall back in line with pre-Covid levels this year.

About 200,000 students also received results for BTec Tech Awards, BTec Firsts and BTec Level 2 Technical courses, while about 120,000 received results for Cambridge Nationals.

A Ukrainian student who started school in the UK four months before her GCSEs says she is “really proud” of passing.

Halyna left war-torn Kyiv just over a year ago and says adapting to an English school was “terrifying”.

The 16-year-old, a pupil at Thistley Hough Academy in Stoke-on-Trent, says new friends at the school helped her find her feet.

She headed off to celebrate in a cafe with friends after achieving grades 5 and 6 and meeting the requirements for her college course next year.

“I’ve done really well, I’ve got all the marks I needed to,” Halyna told BBC News.

In England, the 2024 results show the north-south divide that existed before the pandemic has worsened.

Back in 2019, the gap was smaller, at 6.8 percentage points. Then, London was also the highest-performing region, with the West Midlands and the North East joint lowest-performing.

Four out of five regions in the north of England and the Midlands have lower pass rates than in 2019, whereas every region in the south has a higher pass rate.

The Northern Powerhouse, a body set up to boost the northern economy, describes these regional differences as “largely a reflection of the differences… in the proportions of long-term disadvantaged children by region”.

In a post on X, England’s education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, congratulated students and staff.

“You’ve shown amazing resilience overcoming challenges, and you should be proud of all you’ve achieved,” she wrote.

Also on X, Sir Keir promised: “My government will make sure everyone’s path is determined by their talent, skills and ambition, not where you come from.”

Earlier, England’s School Standards Minister Catherine McKinnell acknowledged Thursday’s GCSE results and last week’s A-level results were “not spread evenly across the country”.

She says the government is determined to ensure every young person has access to opportunity no matter where they live.

Even though this is a “big task”, she says, it is “one we are committed to delivering on”.

Last week, the percentage of top A-level grades rose for the first time since 2021 across the whole of England, Wales and Northern Ireland – but the picture was different depending on where you looked.

The proportion of top grades rose in England, but fell in Wales and Northern Ireland.

The pass rate for Higher exams in Scotland also returned to its 2019 level this month, while the pass rate for National 5s and Advanced Highers dropped further.

Additional reporting by Mollie Perella, Kayleigh Hall and Susie Rack