GCSE results: The key trends explained as gender gap narrows

1. Top grades increase: The proportion of GCSE entries receiving the top grades has risen for the second year in a row and remains higher than before the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 22 per cent of entries were awarded grade 7/A or above.
2. Gender gap narrows: Some 70.2 per cent of all female entries were awarded 4/C or higher, compared with 64.4 per cent for boys, a lead of 5.8 points. This is the narrowest lead for girls at 4/C since at least 2000.
3. Regional divide grows: London saw the highest proportion of entries awarded grades of 7 or higher at 28.6 per cent, while north-east England had the lowest at 17.7 per cent, The gap between these two regions now stands at 10.9 per cent, the largest since at least 2010.
4. Northern Ireland receives best grades: Some 31.7 per cent of entries in Northern Ireland received 7/A or higher, above the equivalent figure for England (21.8 per cent) and Wales (19.6 per cent).
5. Maths and science remain popular: The subject with the most entries this year was the science double award, with a total of 1,007,628 entries. Maths remains the subject with the second largest number of entries, with 912,410 this year.

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GCSE results day: More pupils get top grades as gap between boys and girls shrinks