Key GCSE pass rate slumps to 7-year low – but boys slash gender gap to smallest level this century

THOUSANDS of students are eagerly opening their GCSE results this morning as the key pass rate falls to pre-pandemic lows. The longstanding difference between boys and girls has narrowed again to the smallest this century as boys continue to close the gap. Students receiving their GCSE results at Llanishen High School Credit: Getty Florence Davies looks at her results at Llanishen High School in Cardiff Credit: Getty The proportion of entries getting at least a 4 or a C grade – considered a “standard pass” – has fallen to the same levels as 2019. It dropped from 67.4% in 2025 to 67.3% this year – a drop of 0.1 percentage points. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Despite this, official exam board data shows more than a fifth (22 per cent) of the entries were awarded top grades, after a slight drop in 2024 and 2025. This was higher than in 2019, the last year before the pandemic, when 20.8 per cent of entries achieved the top grades. Students react to their GCSE results at Norlington School and 6th Form in Waltham Forest, East London Credit: LNP Boys have managed to narrow the gender gap again this summer Credit: LNP A record 600 students scored straight nines in all 10 subjects Credit: Getty GCSE entries awarded 7/A or above for 2026 Credit: PA Meanwhile, the gap between male and female students scoring at least a grade 4 or C has continued to narrow to just under 6 per cent. This was also seen in the top grades with 10,000 more boys earning a grade 7/A compared to last year, cutting the gender difference to 5.1 per cent. This is the narrowest lead enjoyed by girls since at least 2000, which is the earliest archive data available. A record 600 students scored straight nines in all 10 subjects, with a further 90 getting all 9s in at least 11 subjects. Most read in The Sun English and maths remain tough with 60 per cent achieving a standard pass in English and 57.3 per cent in maths – a drop from 58.3 per cent last year. Older students struggled the most with 21.7 per cent of students aged 17 and over getting a pass in English and 16.5 per cent in maths. However, amongst the success stories was one grandmother who has passed her GCSE maths exam at the fifth time. Wynne Hindle, 52, from Sudbury in Suffolk has urged other adult learners to “keep at it” after she earned a grade four this summer. Iris Hamilton-Potter (L) and friend Poppy Plant after receiving their results Credit: Getty GCSEs offered to 14 to 16-year-olds in Wales have been reviewed and updated with some new subjects such as dance and digital media and film introduced Credit: Getty She first took the exam in 2022-23 and now the former nanny and nursery nurse is now aiming to work in a school. This comes after Education Secretary Lucy Powell said the resit system is “knocking” students’ confidence. She told BBC Breakfast this morning it is “one of the barriers” stopping pupils from going further. “It’s knocking their confidence, it’s not giving them the passport they need,” she added. Ms Powell said she hopes to introduce a “pathway” level one qualification – below GCSEs at level two – to help students “get onto the next path”. She added that her own daughter is among those opening their results this morning but in a “parenting failure” she can’t be with her as she is on the show. Subject choices shifted this year Statistics and Business Studies showing the biggest increase in entries – 11.2 per cent and 7.8 per cent respectively. Sociology, Media Studies and Physical Education were also more popular. Subject choices shifted this year Statistics and Business Studies showing the biggest increase in entries Credit: Getty Pupils at Llanishen High School this morning Credit: Getty In languages Spanish remained the most popular choice as French dropped entries by 5.4 per cent. However, out of the top three foreign languages, German had the highest per cent of pupils getting a top grade of 7/A at 35 per cent. Double Science saw almost a 2 per cent increase in entries this year while Biology, Chemistry and Physics saw drops of around 1.5 per cent. But while just 9.4 per cent of Double Science pupils achieved a 7/A grade, around 45 per cent of entries got top marks in the individual science subjects. In a post on X this morning, Andy Burnham told pupils receiving their grades: “Whatever your results, remember there isn’t just one route to success.” He echoed Ms Powell and said his government is looking to create “more opportunities” for youngsters to choose the “path that’s right for them, whether that’s academic or technical”. The PM added: “Every young person should have the chance to fulfil their potential,” he adds. “I’ll make sure they do.” 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.” Education experts have also 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.” Comment now