Richmond upon Thames leads London's A-level performance, with 48.7% of entries achieving A or A* grades, according to data published by Ofqual. Kingston follows at 45.3%, Sutton at 44.5%, Southwark at 43.8%, and Newham at 43.2%.
Bottom of the table
At the other end, fewer than 20% of entries received top grades in Tower Hamlets (17.1%), Havering (17.5%), Islington (19.1%), and Barking & Dagenham (19.1%). The gap between Richmond and Tower Hamlets is 31.6 percentage points, with Richmond's top-grade proportion nearly three times that of Tower Hamlets.
Biggest improvements and declines
Merton recorded the largest improvement among London boroughs, with A/A* grades rising 3.6 percentage points from 37.1% to 40.7%, moving it into London's top nine. Haringey also saw a significant rise, up 3.3 percentage points to 43.1%, placing it sixth. Camden experienced the largest decline, falling from 32.1% to 30.5%.
National and regional context
Guildford in Surrey tops England with 50.0% of entries awarded A or A*, up from 48.8% in 2025. Only one of the top 10 areas nationally is outside southern England: Trafford in Greater Manchester, joint seventh with 45.1%. Harlow in Essex has the lowest proportion at 7.0%, followed by Test Valley in Hampshire (9.9%), Hartlepool (10.5%), and Castle Point in Essex (11.8%).
London's top-grade rate reached 32.7%, a 0.6% increase on 2025, and is 9.6 percentage points ahead of the worst-performing regions, the North East and East Midlands—the largest gap since the current grading system began in 2010. The South East saw 31.5% achieve A*-A, while the East of England was third at 27.9%, a 0.1% drop. Ofqual published no data for Bolsover, Fareham, Knowsley, and the Isles of Scilly due to low entry numbers.
