Key points
- We look at A level participation as a share of entries (rather than raw numbers of entries) to get a better picture of what is or is not changing
- The headlines about boys and girls in science subjects are distorted by the significantly larger number of girls who take A levels overall
- Despite slightly higher numbers of entries to the three sciences from girls, there is still a significantly higher share of entries for boys
- Girls are outperforming boys on higher grades
- English share of entries has declined by a quarter since 2015
- Mathematics share of entries has declined slightly after several years of annual growth
- Most of the decline in MFL is tracking the fall in the population of 18-year olds
- EPQ growth grinds to a halt
- (All data are from JCQ A level results for the UK)
See here the review of the latest results and read our A level results analysis for 2019 here.
