United Kingdom

Pupils achieved their best A-level results in a generation on Thursday with marks that highlighted the growing gap between the strongest and weakest-performing parts of the country.

While the national exam grades were among the highest for decades, regional differences showed areas in the north lagging far behind the south-east. Private schools also continued to outperform state schools.

Students in London and the south-east of England recorded some of the most startling results – more than 30% of their A-level entries were awarded A* or A grades. But those in the East Midlands saw top grades creep up by just 0.2 percentage points to 22.5%.

The West Midlands, which had previously been among the worst-performing regions, enjoyed an above-average increase in top grades, but still remained far behind London and the south-east with 24.8% of entries gaining A* or A.

The gap between university application rates from London and the north-east of England, which had the lowest application rate, has also widened further. As a result, while more than half of school leavers in London go on to higher education, only one in three do so from the north-east.