- The GCSE pass rate has remained stable – with 67.3% of all grades across England, Wales and Northern Ireland at 4/C and above, only slightly down from 67.4% last year and exactly the same as in 2019.
- The proportion of top grades (7/A or above) across all three nations rose very slightly from 21.9% last year to 22% this year.
- Girls continue to outperform boys, but the gender gap in pass rates across all three nations has narrowed to its lowest on record: 5.8 percentage points this year, down from 6.2 last year and 9.5 in 2017.
- The regional gap in England has widened: London has the highest pass rate (71.7%) and the West Midlands the lowest (62.4%), a 9.3 percentage point gap, up from 8.7 last year.
- Computing entries fell by 7.1% to 85,000, the biggest drop in subject entries.
- Pass rates varied by nation: 67% in England (down from 67.1% in 2025), 62.3% in Wales (down from 62.5%), and 83.6% in Northern Ireland (up from 83.5%).
- Nearly a quarter of maths and English GCSEs were taken by people aged 17 and older this year, making up 24.3% of maths and English language grades in England (up from 23.4% last year).
- Exam boards and school leaders criticised the resit cycle: Cambridge OCR said "the number of resit entries is still going in the wrong direction", and the Association of School and College Leaders said "force-feeding [young people] a relentless diet of GCSE English and maths in post-16 education is simply not working".
The GCSE pass rate across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland remained stable at 67.3%, a slight decrease from 67.4% last year, but consistent with 2019.123
Top grades rose to 22%, up from 21.9% last year.4
In England, the pass rate was 67%, down from 67.1% in 2025, while Wales saw a drop to 62.3% from 62.5%, and Northern Ireland increased to 83.6% from 83.5%.10111213
Nearly 24.3% of maths and English GCSEs were taken by students aged 17 and older, compared to 23.4% last year. However, only 19.8% of English language entries and 15.3% of maths entries from this age group achieved grade 4 or higher.1415
The gap between boys' and girls' pass rates has narrowed to 5.8 percentage points, down from 6.2 last year, although this is due to a drop in girls' grades.56
London boasts the highest pass rate at 71.7%, while the West Midlands has the lowest at 62.4%, widening the gap to 9.3 percentage points.789
The DfE aims to tackle inequality with targeted support and plans to introduce a new qualification for those who do not pass GCSEs by 2028.
Myles McGinley from Cambridge OCR noted a 7.1% drop in computing entries, attributing it to the rise of AI, stating, "I think potentially computer science is more important than ever in the age of AI."
“The gender gap in pass rates narrowed to a record low of 5.8 percentage points, down from 6.2 last year, as girls' grades dropped while boys' rose slightly. Computing entries fell 7.1% to 85,000, with Cambridge OCR's Myles McGinley suggesting AI may be deterring students from learning to code.”
