Students getting 3 A grades or better at A level
Published
1. Main facts and figures
- 23.1% of students got 3 A grades or better at A level (including students whose ethnicity was not known) in the 2021 to 2022 academic year
- 36.8% of students from the Chinese ethnic group got 3 A grades or better – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- 2.2% of students from the Gypsy and Roma ethnic group got at least 3 A grades, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups – this is based on only 46 pupils and is less reliable as a result
- 8.2% of students from the black Caribbean ethnic group got at least 3 A grades – the lowest percentage after the Gypsy and Roma group
- 20.6% of white British students got 3 A grades or better
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures the percentage of 16 to 18 year old students in England who entered at least one A level or applied A level and got 3 A grades or better.
A level qualifications include:
- A or AS levels
- applied single A or AS levels
- applied double A or AS levels
- combined A or AS level
Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place. You can download the data for percentages rounded to 3 decimal places.
The ethnic groups used in the data
The ethnic groups are based on the 18 ethnic groups used in the 2011 Census, with 3 exceptions:
- there are separate categories for Traveller of Irish heritage, and Gypsy and Roma students
- the Chinese ethnic group has its own category and is not part of the Asian ethnic group
- there is no separate Arab ethnic group within the other ethnic group
Ethnicity was not known for 17.5% of students who entered at least one A level or applied A level. This is mainly because students at independent schools do not have their ethnicity recorded in the school census.
Students whose ethnicity was not known are included in the figures for ‘All’ ethnicities, and results for this group are shown in the table.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology for the data used on this page.
Scores for the 2021 to 2022 academic year are not directly comparable with scores for the previous 2 years. This is because of changes to:
- how A levels and vocational technical qualifications were awarded in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic
- the grade boundaries, methods of assessment, and reporting of qualifications for the 2021 to 2022 academic year
You can read more about performance tables and data reported during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of the figures are based on small numbers of pupils – this makes it difficult to make reliable generalisations.
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | % | Students in cohort |
|---|---|---|
| All | 23.1 | 216,172 |
| Asian | 21.6 | 27,733 |
| Bangladeshi | 16.5 | 4,625 |
| Indian | 28.4 | 9,385 |
| Pakistani | 15.8 | 8,204 |
| Asian other | 23.0 | 5,519 |
| Black | 12.3 | 11,393 |
| Black African | 13.2 | 8,463 |
| Black Caribbean | 8.2 | 1,626 |
| Black other | 11.4 | 1,304 |
| Chinese | 36.8 | 1,382 |
| Mixed | 21.1 | 10,547 |
| Mixed white and Asian | 26.3 | 3,103 |
| Mixed white and black African | 19.4 | 1,323 |
| Mixed white and black Caribbean | 14.0 | 1,832 |
| Mixed other | 20.8 | 4,289 |
| White | 20.7 | 123,085 |
| White British | 20.6 | 111,426 |
| White Irish | 29.0 | 785 |
| Gypsy or Roma | 2.2 | 46 |
| Irish Traveller | 16.7 | 12 |
| White other | 20.8 | 10,816 |
| Other | 18.6 | 4,235 |
| Unknown | 35.7 | 37,797 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Students getting 3 A grades or better at A level By ethnicity Summary
The data shows that:
- 23.1% of all students got 3 A grades or better at A level (including students whose ethnicity was not known)
- 36.8% of students from the Chinese ethnic group got 3 A grades or better – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- 29.0% of students from the white Irish ethnic group got 3 A grades or better – the second highest percentage, and the highest percentage out of all white ethnic groups
- 2.2% of students from the Gypsy and Roma ethnic group got at least 3 A grades, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups – this is based on only 46 pupils and is less reliable as a result
- 8.2% of students from the black Caribbean ethnic group got at least 3 A grades – the lowest percentage after the Gypsy and Roma group
4. Data sources
Source
A level and other 16 to 18 results: 2022 (revised)
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Department for Education
Note on corrections or updates
Data can be provisional, revised or final. Data for 2021 to 2022 is revised. Data for the 2 academic years ending in August 2021 is final.
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The main purpose of this data is to measure the performance of schools and colleges and their students. This is to monitor and improve standards and inform parental and student choice.
5. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type, geography, geography_type, geography_code, age, value, value_type, denominator and version