A Level Results

Community Union sends warm congratulations to students and teachers, whose hard work and dedication has secured success in this year’s A level exams.

The Joint Council for Qualifications has today published the 2024 national results for Post-16 Vocational and Technical Qualifications, and AS and A levels in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

This year saw a complete return to pre-pandemic standards without any form of general support for students.  This makes their achievements and the achievement of their teachers even more satisfying because this group of students still suffered disruption to their learning when they were in Y8, Y9 and Y10.

Because of this disruption, it is pleasing to see a level of stability in results, with A level outcomes at grades A*-E remaining largely unchanged at 97.2% compared with last year (97.3%), and achievements at grades A* slightly increased (from 27.2% last year to 27.8% this year).

And over 250,000 VTQ results, including T Levels, have been published today, with over 22,100 students receiving top grades in their VTQ and 88.7% of T Level students receiving a pass or above.

Turbulence in the world of qualifications leads to variability in outcomes.  Ofqual has made no secret of the fact that great lengths have been taken to curb so-called ‘grade inflation’ using a ‘comparable outcomes’ approach.  This means that, in spite of all the pressures that students, teachers and school leaders are under to increase expectations and achieve greater and greater improvements in performance, the system seeks to maintain the grade distribution every year.

However, given the modern emphasis on targets, league tables and performance criteria which place an inordinate pressure on schools, staff and students, an increasing trend of higher and higher results is surely to be expected (and encouraged)?

Therefore, Community worries that an over-reliance on statistical parameters risks undermining the work of students and their teachers and even the expertise of professional senior examiners, whose judgements are based on marking candidates’ actual work.  This does have implications for many students, teachers and school leaders when even the smallest percentage change in the number of top grades which are awarded can affect thousands of results.

Teachers and school leaders are often seen as only as good as their last set of exam results, so if outcomes appear to plateau or decline (albeit by the smallest of percentage points), rather than being rewarded for continuing to maintain high standards in difficult circumstances, teachers and headteachers can find themselves accused of failing to meet more demanding targets.

For students, too, attempting to achieve higher grades in the face of systemic attempts towards stasis increases stress, leading to increased risk of mental health difficulties and alienation, as the rewards which are promised for hard work and dedication fail to materialise.

Congratulations deserved

Both students and schools continue to face enormous pressure, nevertheless, today’s results show that students and their teachers are continuing to work hard, are responding positively and performing well and above all else today, deserve to be congratulated on their success.

Well done!

Join the union for Educators!

Community is the union for education and early years professionals: representing teachers, headteachers, education, school support staff and early years staff. With over fifty years’ experience, we represent members and campaign to improve conditions for education and early years professionals. We are a modern trade union, campaigning for a better working world.

Join today!

If you are a member of Community and need advice or support, please contact our Service Centre at help@community-tu.org or on 0800 389 6332.