Attainment at age 16
Published:
18 December 2025
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Data on the percentage of pupils getting a pass (grade 5 or above) in GCSE English and maths, by socio-economic background.
Summary main findings
In the 2023 to 2024 school year, 46.2% of pupils got a grade 5 or above in both English and maths – down from 45.5% in the previous school year.
26% of disadvantaged pupils and 53% of all other pupils got a grade 5 or above.
The ‘disadvantage gap index’ fell slightly from the previous year, where it was at its widest since the 2010 to 2011 school year. This index measures the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and all other pupils.
In the 2023 to 2024 school year:
- girls were more likely than boys to get a grade 5 or above, regardless of their disadvantage status – for non-disadvantaged pupils, 56% of girls and 51% of boys got a grade 5 or above, and for disadvantaged pupils, 28% of girls and 24% of boys got a grade 5 or above
- there were large variations between FSM-eligible pupils in different ethnic groups – for example, 76% of FSM-eligible pupils from the Chinese ethnic group got a grade 5 or above, compared with 6% of Gypsy or Roma pupils
- for FSM-eligible pupils, those from the Indian and Bangladeshi ethnic groups (both 50%) were more likely to get a grade 5 or above compared with White British (19%) and Mixed White and Black Caribbean (19%) pupils
- for pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM), those in London and the West Midlands were the most likely to get a grade 5 or above
By disadvantage status over time
Visualisation
Percentage of students achieving a grade 5 or above in both GCSE English and maths, by disadvantage status (England, 6 school years to July 2024)
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Data
| School year | Disadvantaged (%) | Not known to be disadvantaged (%) | Total (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 26.0 | 53.4 | 46.2 |
| 2022/23 | 25.4 | 52.6 | 45.5 |
| 2021/22 | 29.7 | 57.2 | 50.0 |
| 2020/21 | 31.7 | 59.2 | 51.9 |
| 2019/20 | 30.4 | 56.8 | 49.9 |
| 2018/19 | 24.8 | 50.1 | 43.4 |
Download
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By year
Visualisation
Disadvantage attainment gap index over time (England, 14 school years to July 2024)
Data
| School year | Disadvantage attainment gap index |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 3.92 |
| 2022/23 | 3.94 |
| 2021/22 | 3.84 |
| 2020/21 | 3.79 |
| 2019/20 | 3.66 |
| 2018/19 | 3.70 |
| 2017/18 | 3.68 |
| 2016/17 | 3.66 |
| 2015/16 | 3.78 |
| 2014/15 | 3.79 |
| 2013/14 | 3.74 |
| 2012/13 | 3.80 |
| 2011/12 | 3.89 |
| 2010/11 | 4.07 |
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By sex
Visualisation
Percentage of pupils getting a grade 5 or above in GCSE English and maths, by disadvantage status and sex (England, 2023 to 2024 school year)
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Data
| Disadvantage status | Boys (%) | Girls (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Disadvantaged | 24.3 | 27.8 |
| Not known to be disadvantaged | 51 | 55.9 |
Download
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By ethnicity
Visualisation
Percentage of FSM-eligible pupils getting a grade 5 or above in GCSE English and maths, by ethnicity (England, 2023 to 2024 school year)
Data
| Ethnicity | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Bangladeshi | 50.4 |
| Chinese | 75.5 |
| Indian | 50.3 |
| Pakistani | 37.6 |
| Any other Asian background | 43.3 |
| Black African | 43.3 |
| Caribbean | 23.2 |
| Any other Black background | 33.7 |
| White and Asian | 30.9 |
| White and Black African | 32.2 |
| White and Black Caribbean | 19.4 |
| Any other Mixed background | 31.8 |
| White British | 18.6 |
| White Irish | 22.1 |
| Gypsy/Roma | 5.8 |
| Traveller of Irish heritage | 7.9 |
| Any other White background | 32.8 |
| Any other ethnic group | 36.8 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By area
Visualisation
Percentage of students achieving a grade 5 or above in both GCSE English and maths, by region and eligibility for free school meals (FSM) (England, 2023 to 2024 school year)
41 regions in the UK are ranked from the lowest to highest values. They are then divided into 5 equally-sized groups (‘quintiles’), from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).
The regional estimates have a large margin of error – do not rank or compare specific regions. See the composite indices for more precise estimates and to understand overall regional patterns.
Data
| Region | FSM eligible (%) | Not FSM eligible (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire | 25.6 | 54.7 |
| Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | 25.3 | 57.3 |
| Cheshire | 18.3 | 52.2 |
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | 21.0 | 44.9 |
| Cumbria | 18.3 | 45.5 |
| Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire | 21.7 | 50.3 |
| Devon | 22.6 | 52.1 |
| Dorset and Somerset | 24.2 | 50.8 |
| East Anglia | 21.6 | 49.0 |
| East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire | 20.8 | 44.4 |
| Essex | 20.7 | 50.6 |
| Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area | 21.5 | 52.8 |
| Greater Manchester | 26.7 | 51.6 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | 19.1 | 49.2 |
| Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire | 20.4 | 51.5 |
| Inner London - East | 42.0 | 58.3 |
| Inner London - West | 45.3 | 67.0 |
| Kent | 22.3 | 54.1 |
| Lancashire | 21.3 | 49.6 |
| Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | 24.0 | 49.9 |
| Lincolnshire | 20.8 | 49.6 |
| Merseyside | 18.8 | 46.0 |
| North Yorkshire | 22.2 | 54.0 |
| Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear | 23.5 | 50.6 |
| Outer London - East and North East | 34.7 | 57.8 |
| Outer London - South | 32.9 | 64.2 |
| Outer London - West and North West | 39.3 | 64.7 |
| Shropshire and Staffordshire | 19.4 | 43.4 |
| South Yorkshire | 22.1 | 50.2 |
| Surrey, East and West Sussex | 22.7 | 55.0 |
| Tees Valley and Durham | 24.1 | 49.4 |
| West Midlands | 28.4 | 51.0 |
| West Yorkshire | 25.0 | 52.4 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
About the data
Data source
Department for Education (DfE). National curriculum assessments at key stage 4 in England, 2024
Time period
- 6 school years to July 2024 (By disadvantage status)
- 14 school years to July 2024 (By year)
- 2023 to 2024 academic year (By area, sex and ethnicity)
Geographic area
England
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of children who got a pass (grade 5 or above) in both English and maths GCSEs by the end of key stage 4, when pupils are usually 16 years old.
Disadvantaged pupils are those who were:
- registered as eligible for free school meals (FSM) at any point in the last 6 years
- looked after by a local authority in England and Wales, or who left local authority care through adoption
Eligibility for FSM is used as an indicator of deprivation by DfE. Children are eligible for FSM if their parents receive certain benefits.
The ‘disadvantage gap index’ summarises the relative attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and all other pupils. It is based on the grades they got in GCSE English and maths.
Scores range from -10 to 10. A disadvantage gap score of 0 means there was no difference in achievement. A score greater than 0 means non-disadvantaged pupils did better than disadvantaged pupils. A score of 10 means that every non-disadvantaged pupil did better than every disadvantaged pupil.
Things you need to know
Figures for the school year 2023 to 2024 are based on revised data. Figures for the school year ending in July 2019 and July 2023 are based on final data.
Summer exams were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, pupils’ grades were based on teacher assessments and centre assessments.
When comparing data over time, note that differences may be partly due to changes in the approach to grading, not only changes in pupil performance.
For data by year, the years shown are the year in which the academic year ends. For example, ‘2024’ refers to the 2023 to 2024 academic year.
Type of data
Administrative data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2025 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 20KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Measure code
- Measure title
- Chart type
- Area code
- Area type
- Area name
- Primary split type
- Primary split value
- Secondary split type
- Secondary split value
- Tertiary split type
- Tertiary split value
- Time period
- Value
- Sample size
- Unit
- Value note
Page history
Publication release date:
18 December 2025