Young people across England have today received their A level, vocational and other applied Level 3 qualification results, and should be applauded for their hard work and commitment.
While A levels are often perceived as the default post 16 route, fewer than half of young people in England typically take them. This years’ data suggests that growth in A level entries has not kept pace with the increase in the 18-year-old population in recent years, as more students seek alternative pathways. At a time when policy makers are seeking to strengthen the profile of technical education and skills, recent trends suggest that there is already strong demand, so it will be important that the government gets the next generation of post 16 qualifications right.
The analysis in the first half of this blog focuses on A level and T level results, primarily because their assessment and grading systems are standardised and widely understood. The relative difficulty of analysing outcomes from other Level 3 qualifications highlights just one of the important challenges that policymakers must address in creating a coherent set of qualifications, with parity of esteem between routes.
The second half focuses on UCAS applications, offers and acceptances. The population increase means that although the application rate is similar to last year, record numbers of 18-year-olds in England are applying to university. Behind the national trend lies a wide regional divide, with students in London far more likely to apply than those in the North East.
With the government’s education agenda now centred on place-based intervention and devolution, this regional gap in opportunity makes higher education access – and the Level 3 attainment needed to reach it – a key challenge ministers will need to tackle.
Key findings:
- The proportion of A levels awarded top grades (A/A*) increased to 28.3 per cent in 2026, from 28.2 per cent in 2025 and 25.2 per cent in 2019.
- The proportion awarded grade C or above in 2026 (78.1 per cent) was also higher than in 2025 (77.7 per cent), and the overall pass rate (97.5 per cent) was only marginally higher than in 2025 (97.4%) and similar to 2019 (97.5 per cent)
- The proportion of A levels awarded top grades in independent schools in 2026 was 48.6 percent, the highest proportion across different provider types. This was followed closely by selective schools (43.4 per cent). In comparison, in FE colleges, the proportion achieving top grades was 12.8 per cent in 2026.
- T level retention rates have risen again this year to 77 per cent, an 11 percentage point increase since 2023. While the – Creative and Design – pathway had the greatest retention rate amongst its first cohort of any new T level pathway.
- The reversed gender gap in the proportion obtaining top A level grades has continued this year, meaning male students received more top grades than females. Male students are now 1.0 percentage points more likely to achieve A-A*.
- Female students were still more likely to achieve grade C and above, but this lead has narrowed to 2.8 percentage points in 2026, from 3.5 percentage points in 2025.
- The number of 18-year-olds applying to higher education from England has reached a record high in 2026, underpinned by population growth in recent years. The proportion of 18-year-olds applying is the same as last year, at around 42 per cent.
- This year, the North East is the only English region where 18-year-olds apply at a lower rate than in 2019, prior to the pandemic. While students living in London are almost twice as likely to apply to university than those living in the North East, the widest application gap on record.
- By the start of the academic year 2025/26, 83.8 per cent of applicants from England had secured a place at a higher education provider – an acceptance rate far higher than any other domicile.
A level results
The exam regulator Ofqual has held standards constant in recent years, meaning today’s A level results were expected to be comparable to 2025. Differences will be driven by changes in the composition and performance of the cohort, as well as shifts in subject entries, rather than the standard required to achieve a certain grade.
Figure 1 confirms that the proportion of entries awarded each grade in 2026 was similar to last year. The proportion of A levels awarded top grades (A/A*) slightly increased to 28.3 per cent in 2026, from 28.2 per cent in 2025 and 25.2 per cent in 2019. The majority of entries (78.1 per cent) were awarded grade C or above, again a slight increase on 2025 (77.7 per cent). The overall pass rate (awarded grade E or above) was 97.5 per cent in 2026, similar to the rate seen in 2025 (97.4 per cent).
Although results have been stable in recent years, students still appear to be achieving higher grades than before the pandemic, in 2019.
Figure 1: A level grades are broadly stable in 2026 but are still higher than pre-pandemic levels
Figure 2 shows the proportion of A levels awarded A or A* grade by provider type. Independent schools had the highest proportion of A/A* grades (48.6 per cent) which has consistently been the case in recent years, followed by selective schools (43.4 per cent).
In FE colleges, the proportion achieving top grades was 12.8 per cent in 2026.
FE colleges typically serve a higher proportion of disadvantaged students, so the lower A level grades will be reflective of the disadvantage attainment gap seen in 16-19 outcomes, not simply the quality of provision. FE colleges also focus on delivering a much broader range of study programmes beyond A levels., not simply the quality of provision. FE colleges also focus on delivering a much broader range of study programmes beyond A levels.
Independent and selective schools on the other hand tend to take on more students with high prior attainment and far fewer students from economically deprived backgrounds.
As recommended in our recent annual report, a student premium payment for disadvantaged 16–19-year-olds would help address the inequality in grades seen between different types of post 16 provider.
Figure 2: Independent schools have the highest proportion of students achieving top A level grades
Figure 3 shows that the reversal of the gender gap seen in 2025 has continued through to 2026, with male students more likely to achieve top grades this year, compared to female students. While the gender gap initially widened during the pandemic in favour of female students, male students are now 1.0 percentage points more likely to achieve A/A* in 2026.
Female students were 2.8 percentage points more likely to be awarded C or above in 2026, a reduction of 0.7 percentage points since 2025. This gender gap is the narrowest in our time series.
The narrowing of the gap we see in 2026 is likely driven by the continued increase in average grades for all students, which were slightly higher for males.
Figure 3: The gender gap in top A level grades has reversed since the pandemic, with male students now ahead
Figure 4 shows that the subjects most commonly entered by male students are not necessarily the ones where they achieve higher grades, and vice versa. The top left and bottom right quadrants show the subject areas where this is the case.
Subjects such as economics, computing and business were more commonly entered by male students in 2026, however female students were more likely to achieve top grades. This pattern is similar to 2025.
Conversely, subjects such as Chemistry, French and German were more commonly entered by female students, but male students were more likely to be awarded top grades.
Overall, there are more subjects (70.7 per cent) where female students achieve the higher proportion of top grades.
Figure 4: Subjects favoured by boys or girls are not always those where they achieve the highest grades
Figure 5 shows that students in London and the South East were considerably more likely to achieve top grades in their A levels (32.7 and 31.5 per cent respectively) in 2026. This compares to 23.1 per cent in the North East and East Midlands, with results in other regions sitting between these extremes.
Since 2019, all regions have seen an increase in the percentage of students achieving top A level grades, however in the past year several have seen a reversal of this trend: the East Midlands saw a 0.7 percentage point decrease in the percentage of students achieving top grades in 2026, whilst the North West and the East of England saw modest reductions (0.1 percentage points each).
These longstanding regional gaps serve as a reminder that educational opportunity is not equal across England. For a government committed to both devolution and reducing the rate of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), raising attainment in lower-performing regions remains a key challenge to be tackled.
Figure 5: Students in London and the South East are the most likely to achieve top A level grades
T level retention
Today also saw results awarded to students taking level 3 technical and vocational qualifications, with the fifth cohort of T level students among those collecting grades. T levels were introduced as a high-status technical alternative to A levels.
The fifth cohort of T level students began their qualifications in 2024. Of the 25,508 students that began a T level two years ago, 19,562 completed their T level and received a grade today (77 per cent). This is a continuing improvement in the retention rate for T levels, rising by 11 per cent since 2023.
This places T level retention close to the retention rate seen for similar sized alternative vocational and technical qualifications (80 per cent in 2025). This is a positive sign as T levels struggled to retain students at such a high rate in the early cohorts. However, T level retention is still significantly lower than students taking 3 or more A levels, where retention sat at 90 per cent last year.
70 per cent of students on the newest pathway to be awarded results – Creative and Design – completed their T levels in 2026. In comparison, 61.1 per cent of students on the Agriculture and Animal Care pathway completed their T levels in 2025, the first awarding year. Combined with the increasing enrolment rates, this reinforces the popularity of T levels as they continue to become more established qualifications.
Figure 6: T level retention rates continue to improve and are now closer to similar sized alternative vocational and technical qualifications
UCAS applications, offers and acceptances
As students receive their A level and T level results today, we also consider how many students applied to higher education by the 30th of June 2026. Figure 7 shows the number of 18-year-olds applying from England has almost reached 300,000 in 2026. This growth was underpinned by the largest 18-year-old cohort on record, growing from 593,000 in 2019 to 707,000 in 2026.
However, the application rate – the share of 18-year-olds who apply – has not been rising. Having climbed through the pandemic and peaked at 44.2 per cent in 2022, it then dropped for three consecutive years. In 2026, the rate plateaued at 42.1 per cent, meaning the likelihood of an 18-year-old applying to university remains the same as last year.
Figure 7: Demand for university places is at a record high among 18-year-olds in England, but the application rate has plateaued
The region a student lives in makes a clear difference in their likelihood of applying for higher education. Figure 8 shows that 18-year-olds from London are nearly twice as likely to apply than those from the North East. The difference between these regional application rates has widened to 26 percentage points in 2026 – the widest gap on record. The North East is the only region where 18-year-olds are applying at a lower rate than in 2019.
This widening gap should concern a government that has made opportunity and devolution central to its education agenda. If ministers are serious about raising participation and reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training, closing the access gap in higher education must be central to that mission.
Figure 8: The application rate for 18-year-olds is far higher in London than any other region
It is also important to consider how many applications to higher education providers result in an offer. These figures are based on applicants of any age and all their choices, with a maximum of five per student. We looked across tariff provider, categorised as higher, medium and lower, based on the average number of UCAS points held by entrants. While the offer rate from lower tariff providers is down slightly to 83.5 per cent in 2026, higher tariff offer rates have plateaued at 65.3 per cent, and the medium tariff offer rate was 80 per cent, similar to last year.
There was a sharp post-pandemic dip in the number and rate of offers made by higher tariff providers that has since recovered. The offer rate from higher tariff providers has plateaued in recent years, but their absolute number of offers continued to climb (figure 9). This suggests that higher tariff providers may have been able to expand their capacity without necessarily needing to adjust their entry requirements.
Figure 9: Higher tariff providers are making record numbers of offers, but without a need to increase their offer rate
The cohort of 18-year-olds in England is projected to keep rising for the next four to five years. This means higher education providers, particularly the most oversubscribed, will either need to continue to expand their capacity, or tighten their entry criteria. Given funding pressures, many universities may welcome the opportunity to accept more students, but some will be able to accommodate this more easily than others, and application numbers are unlikely to increase to all universities equally.
We next examine acceptance rates, the share of applicants (of any age) who secured a university place any time up to the start of the 2025/26 academic year. As these trends are taken from UCAS end-of-cycle data they are a year behind other UCAS data explored in this blog.
Figure 10 shows the majority of applicants from England secured a place at a higher education provider in 2025 (83.8 per cent of the 515,195 applicants). Those applying internationally from outside the EU, were far less likely to have a place accepted (48.7 per cent of the 131,975 applicants) in 2025, as were those applying from within the EU.
This partly reflects that most international students apply to higher tariff universities, which make offers on a smaller proportion of applications. This means that even though international applicant numbers have risen, many do not go on to secure a university place in the UK.
Looking towards 2026, by the 30th June this year, we find the number of non-EU applicants (of any age) has risen to 125,720 compared to 81,680 applicants at the same time point in 2019. In 2026, there were more international applications than from the other UK nations (87,810 applicants largely unchanged since 2019) and EU students (22,630 applicants by the 30th June deadline, less than half the applications seen in 2019, before the removal of home-based fees for EU students).
Figure 10: Students applying from England remain more likely to secure a place at university in 2025, compared to all other domiciles
