To all those in England, Wales and Northern Ireland celebrating achievements in the 2025 GCSEs and Level 2 results, Community sends its warmest congratulations. We also congratulate all those parents, teachers, school leaders and support staff who have played such a significant role throughout.
Today, over 6.5 million results have been awarded to 1 million students across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. And in spite of some the huge disruption students and teachers have experienced since the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, these results stand as testament to what is possible with hard work and dedication.
Overview
GCSE and VTQ results remain stable and similar to those awarded in 2024, with 21.9% of grades awarded at 7/A and above (up from 21.8% 2024) and 67.4% grade 4/C and above, and over 14,300 (4%) top grades were achieved in Tech Awards and other vocational courses with over 67% achieving a merit or above.
The most widely taken vocational and technical subjects were Technical Awards in Leisure, Travel and Tourism, and Health, Public Services and Care.
The ten most popular subjects at GCSE remain unchanged with Double Science (up 0.9%), Maths (up 1.7%), English Language (up 2.4%) and Geography (up 1.8%) all seeing an increase in entries. Subjects outside that top ten seeing notable increases in entries include Statistics (up 9.5%), Music (up 6.1%) and Spanish (up 2.6%).
Still remaining in the top ten of subjects, History (down 5.7%), Biology (down 5.8%) and Chemistry (down 6.0%) all saw significant decreases in the number of entries, with English Literature (down 1.0%) and Art (down 1.1%) also seeing a slight drop in entries.
English & Maths
Pass rates at 4/C are down again to 70.5% in English Language (71.0% in 2024) but remain more stable at 71.1% for maths for 16-year-olds. Overall outcomes, including resits, are comparable to 2024, however concerns remain that every year almost a fifth of teenagers fail to achieve the GCSE grades in both English and maths needed to function and flourish in life and are required to resit until higher pass grades are achieved.
Science and Technology
Computer Science have seen a meteoric rise since 2019 but this year that rise has fallen back slightly with 91,619 entries. Grades continue to see a moderate increase (up to 29.6% at 7/A and 69.3% 4/C).
Science Double Award remains the most popular science option with 57.8% achieving grade 4/C or above. In contrast, although the individual science subjects have seen a drop in entries, results at 4/C and above have increased in Biology (89.4%), Chemistry (91.5%) and Physics (90.9%) all up over 2024.
Languages
Although entries to French and German fell slightly for 2025, results have again increased. French up to 73.3% grade 4/C and above and German 79.8% (4/C)
Spanish, the most popular of the languages studied at GCSE also saw improved outcomes, with 71.4% of students achieving grade 4/C or above.
Humanities
As noted, entries in Geography have risen by 1.8%, but have fallen in both History (down 5.7%) and Religious Studies (down 3.1%). Results remain highly stable across all three subjects with an average 68% achieving grades 4/C and above across Humanities.
Ongoing Conversation
There is a question about the continued importance of formal assessment at GCSE and level 2 given the requirement for students to remain in education, employment or training until 18. And we have considered this HERE before. Students in England typically sit between 24 and 31 hours of exams in year 11, which is considerably more than many other high-performing nations. And, since the 2010 reforms, the curriculum has become more content-heavy making it difficult to effectively cover everything in the allotted time. Community hopes that this is something that the Curriculum and Assessment Review will address, along with the heavy academic focus, reliance on high-stakes terminal assessment and the consequent impact on the mental-health and wellbeing of students and staff.
Congratulations
GCSEs continue to be an integral part of the education landscape, and together with the level 2 assessments received today provide a solid foundation for further study or movement into employment and training. The students receiving results today have laboured so hard to achieve these grades and so today we celebrate the hard work and dedication of the students and those who surround them.
Congratulations!
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