A-Level Results Day 2025: National Performance & Key Insights for UK Schools

A-Level Results Day 2025 has arrived, bringing with it a wealth of data, success stories, and the opportunity to reflect and plan.

As your trusted education partner, we’ve prepared a report to give you an early overview of national trends, performance highlights and what this means for the future.

📊 Headline Figures

• Overall pass rate (A-E): 97.5%

• This year the proportion of A-levels marked at A* and A was:
  • 28.2% in England, up from 27.6% in 2024
  • 29.5% in Wales, down from 29.9%
  • 30.4% in Northern Ireland, up from 30.3%
• Wales’s overall A-level results don’t show the big year-on-year changes we’ve been used to since 2020 and are broadly in line with 2024.

• Number achieving 3 A* grades: 4,043

• Most improved subject areas: STEM subjects have held onto their popularity in 2025 – with some continuing to grow in uptake.
• The proportion of A and above grades in London was 32.1%. In the south east, it was 31.2%. This is compared to 22.9% in the north east and 23.8% in the east Midlands.
• Boys, in particular, did well, with more boys than girls achieving an A* grade this year, unusual outside the Covid era. However, as in past years, more girls achieved grades of C and above. And there were fewer low grades (E and U) than in the previous two years.

Overall results were always expected to be similar to last year, after years of flux because of the Covid pandemic.

🎓 Destinations and University Admissions

A total of 439,180 applicants gained a place at university or college – up 3.1% on the same point last year, according to data published by the university admissions service.

Not every student wants to continue into further education; many are ready to head straight into work. Our Health & Social Care team have lots of jobs available in the care sector where no experience is required as full training is provided. Please feel free to share our website & resources with your pupils.

📈 Supporting Your School Post-Results Day

As your school reviews its outcomes, you may want to consider:

• Benchmarking your performance against national and regional averages
• Reviewing departmental data to identify trends in subject delivery
• Offering targeted support for students going through UCAS Clearing or appeal processes

Sources: https://www.itv.com/news/2025-08-14/a-level-results-day-record-number-of-students-accepted-into-uk-universities https://www.theguardian.com/education/live/2025/aug/14/a-level-results-england-wales-northern-ireland-universities-clearing-sixth-form-latest-updates-news https://feweek.co.uk/a-level-results-2025-8-key-trends-in-englands-data/ https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/education/a-level-results-day-2025-how-cohort-did-overall-regions-top-grades-5271094 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cvg802j5kkjt