A Level Results 2026: Pride, Progress and the Work Still to Do

Results day is often described in numbers: pass rates, top grades, university places, clearing vacancies and league-table movement. Yet anyone who has stood in a school hall on an August morning knows that results day is really about faces.

There are the faces of students who can barely open the envelope. The faces of parents trying to look calm while carrying two years of worry in their eyes. The faces of teachers who know every mock result, every late intervention, every difficult conversation and every small act of resilience that brought a young person to that moment.

This year’s A Level results in England tell a broadly positive national story. Top grades have risen again. In England, 28.7% of grades were A or A*, while 9.7% were A*, a record outside the pandemic years. Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the proportion of entries awarded A or above was 28.5%. The proportion achieving C or above also rose, with England at 78.1% and all three nations combined at 78.4%. ([The Guardian][1]) ([The Guardian][2])

These figures matter. They show academic strength, endurance and ambition. They also remind us that this cohort began secondary school around the period of pandemic disruption and has lived through a profoundly unsettled educational journey. It is therefore right to celebrate their success. Ofqual’s chief regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, has said that A Levels remain trusted because they are awarded to rigorous and consistent national standards, giving universities, employers and students confidence in what the grades represent. ([The Guardian][1])

But national pride must not become national complacency. Beneath the headline success lies a regional divide that should concern anyone committed to fairness. London continues to pull ahead, with 32.7% of entries awarded A or A*. The West Midlands remains at 24.2%, unchanged from 2025, though still above its 2019 figure of 22.0%. The East Midlands and North East sit at 23.1%. The gap between London and the lowest-performing regions has widened to 9.6 percentage points, the largest since the current grading system began.

For those of us in the West Midlands, this is not an abstract policy point. It is a call to purpose. As a Foundation Governor and Academy Trust Governor across the King Edward VI family of 14 schools, Chair of Governors at King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls’ Academy, and Governor at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls, I see daily the difference that strong governance, high expectations, inclusive access and precise school improvement can make. Our region has talent in abundance. The task is to ensure that opportunity is just as abundant.

Within the King Edward VI family, there is much to celebrate. At Camp Hill Girls, students achieved an average A Level grade of A-, maintaining the strong performance seen in 2025. Sixteen confirmed Oxbridge places is a remarkable outcome and reflects both academic excellence and the confidence to aim high. The exceptional average grade of A+ in the EPQ is also significant, because it shows independent thinking, research maturity and intellectual curiosity beyond the conventional examination route.

Equally encouraging is the performance of joiners, who achieved in line with established Camp Hill Girls students and recorded a slightly higher A*/B percentage. That matters because it speaks to integration, teaching quality and the capacity of the school to help new students thrive. At the same time, the continued focus on disadvantaged Pakistani students is essential. Equity and excellence are not competing ambitions. The strongest schools pursue both with equal seriousness.

At Handsworth Wood Girls’ Academy, the story is one of significant improvement and renewed confidence. The overall pass rate has risen from 93% to 97%. A-C grades have increased from 50% to 61%. Vocational value added has improved from +0.25 to +0.32. The A Level average grade has moved from D+ to C. These are not marginal shifts. They represent real progress in teaching, curriculum, intervention, pastoral care and Sixth Form culture.

The subject-level gains are particularly powerful. Law has moved from D to B-. Religious Education has moved from E to B. Art has moved from E to B+. Mathematics has moved from E to C, and Psychology from D to C. Behind each subject improvement will be staff effort, student perseverance and sharper systems of accountability. These are the building blocks of sustainable school improvement.

There is also a historic milestone to recognise: Handsworth Wood Girls’ Academy has secured its first successful Oxford University application. For any school, that would be important. For a school on an improvement journey, it is transformational. It sends a message to younger pupils that elite destinations are not remote, inaccessible or meant for other people. They are possible. Our girls can. Our girls will.

This is why governance matters. Governors are not there simply to attend meetings, read papers and congratulate. We are there to ask the right questions: Are the right students being identified early? Are interventions timely enough? Are target grades ambitious and accurate? Are subject gaps being challenged? Are disadvantaged students progressing at the same rate? Are university, apprenticeship and vocational pathways being presented with equal seriousness?

The national context reinforces those questions. Private schools in England continue to record much higher levels of top grades, with 48.6% of entries achieving A or A*. Academies saw a 0.4 percentage point rise and local authority comprehensives a 0.3 point rise, while grammar schools saw a slight fall in top grades. ([The Guardian][2]) These figures should not lead to crude comparisons, but they should sharpen our understanding of structural advantage.

Results day is also changing because the post-16 landscape is changing. University remains powerful and attractive. UCAS confirmed that a record 262,820 UK 18-year-olds gained a university or college place this year, up 3% from last year. Of those, 228,990 secured their firm choice and 31,770 their insurance choice. More than 26,000 courses were available through Clearing. ([UCAS][3])

For many students, university will be the right path. For others, it will not be the only route to success. Apprenticeships, degree apprenticeships, vocational qualifications, T Levels and employer-led programmes must be discussed with equal confidence. The growth in technical pathways is encouraging, but parity of esteem will require more than warm words. It needs sustained investment, clear progression routes and strong careers education. Programmes such as Deloitte’s BrightStart Apprenticeship show how students can begin professional careers while gaining recognised qualifications. Deloitte’s own early careers information confirms BrightStart apprenticeships across many UK offices, with applications opening for the 2026 intake in September 2025. ([Deloitte][4])

For students who missed their grades, the most important message is simple: pause, breathe and do not panic. A result is important, but it is not the whole story of a life. The first step is to check UCAS Hub and confirm whether the firm or insurance place has been accepted. UCAS advises students to check application status, consider Clearing, look at alternative courses and always verify important information directly with UCAS and universities. ([UCAS][5])

The second step is to speak to school staff. They know the student, the subjects, the university offer and whether a review of marking is sensible. JCQ guidance states that centres can request clerical re-checks, reviews of marking and access to scripts after results are issued, but written candidate consent is required because marks and grades can go down as well as up. The final deadline for Reviews of Results is 24 September 2026, with priority A Level review requests due earlier where relevant. ([JCQ][6])

The third step is to look forward, not backwards. Clearing is not failure. An apprenticeship is not second best. A foundation year is not defeat. A changed plan is still a plan. What matters is that students receive calm advice, practical help and emotional reassurance at the point when disappointment can feel overwhelming.

This year’s results should make us proud, especially across the King Edward VI schools and in the West Midlands. They show excellence at Camp Hill Girls, momentum at Handsworth Wood Girls’ Academy, and the continuing importance of high expectations across the Foundation and Academy Trust. But they also remind us that the work is unfinished.

The measure of a school system is not only how high its highest achievers fly. It is also how determinedly it lifts those who need more support, more guidance, more confidence and more belief.

That is the challenge after results day. Celebrate the grades. Honour the effort. Then return to the work of widening opportunity, strengthening outcomes and ensuring that every young person, whatever their background, has a future worthy of their talent.