UK 2024 GCSE Results Analysis Tool

It has now been three years of exams since the disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For English students, the 2023 guidance from Ofqual was that grades would return to their 2019 levels. In contrast to previous years, therefore, we are not anticipating any large changes to the overall proportions achieving each grade in 2024.

This blog explores the initial JCQ 2024 GCSE data for 16-year-olds in the UK and you can use the tools below to dig deeper into trends over time and subject grade breakdowns.

Grade breakdown over time

Explore changes over time in our interactive tool

NB. You can compare 2024 directly with prior years by using the “Year-on-year Comparison” tab

A few key findings

1. At 70.3%, the proportion of entries with a grade of 4 or above is slightly down on 2023, but remained higher than in 2019. However, the proportion getting the very top grades of 7-9 was the same this year as in 2023 and at 22.7%, was higher than in 2019.
2. Despite the proportion of entries getting the very top grades remaining above 2019 levels, the same was true of the proportion with the lowest grade. With 1.9% of entries achieving a U grade, this was slightly higher than the 1.6% of entries in 2019 with the equivalent grade.
3. German and Computing saw the largest percentage point increases in the proportion of entries achieving a 7-9 from 2023 and 2024, at 4.5% and 3.8% respectively. This is likely due to changes in the way they were marked, with Ofqual requiring more generous marking in Computer Science, German and French.

Grade breakdown by subject

Explore this year’s GCSE grades by subject in our interactive tool

A few key findings

1. In 2023, 71.0% of entries in English and 71.2% of entries in maths achieved at least a grade 4. In both cases, this was slightly lower than 2023 but higher than in 2019. Nevertheless, this leaves a large number of pupils who need to resit these exams.
2. The three sciences – Chemistry, Biology and Physics – all saw at least 90% of entries achieving a grade 4 or above. In contrast, only 57.2% of entries in Double Award Science achieved a grade 4 or above.
3. Statistics saw a marked increase in the number of entries, from 17,610 in 2023 to 22,895 in 2024, equivalent to a 30% increase. This was the largest percentage increase in entries of any subject.