This year’s A-level results have reignited concerns over regional disparities in England, with the gap between the highest and lowest performing areas reaching its widest level since at least 2019. The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has emphasised the government’s commitment to tackling what she called the “yawning inequalities” in educational attainment, but experts argue that deeper structural issues remain unaddressed.
In London, 32.1% of A-level entries were awarded A or A* grades, up from 31.3% in 2024. By contrast, the north-east saw its proportion of top grades fall from 23.9% to 22.9%, leaving a 9.2 percentage point gap between the two regions. The West Midlands was the only other region to record a year-on-year decline, dropping from 24.8% to 24.2%. While Ofqual noted that within-region school differences are larger than those between regions, chief regulator Sir Ian Bauckham said he shared the sector’s disappointment at the widening gap.
Experts attribute the divide to persistent poverty, structural inequalities, and the lasting impact of the pandemic. Chris Zarraga, director of Schools North East, said students in his region had “done brilliantly again,” but stressed that the gap was not about school quality or standards. “It is about deep-rooted structural inequalities that no government has seriously addressed,” he said. Henri Murison of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership echoed this, pointing out that the gulf in university application rates between London and the north-east has grown from 19% to 26%.
Natalie Perera, chief executive of the Education Policy Institute, called for targeted investment in high-quality teaching and a fully funded cross-government child poverty strategy. “One of the main drivers is the higher and more persistent poverty in some areas,” she said, noting that schools in disadvantaged areas, particularly outside London, struggle to recruit highly qualified teachers.
The Northern Powerhouse Partnership has urged the government to restore the pupil premium to its full real-terms value and extend it to 16- to 19-year-olds. The government’s “plan for change,” which includes early years reform and expanded free school meals, has been offered as a response, but doubts remain over whether such measures will be enough to close the widening gap.
