Attainment at age 16
Published:
11 September 2024
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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 2022 to 2023 school year, 45.3% of pupils got a grade 5 or above in both English and maths – down from 49.8% in the previous school year.
25.2% of disadvantaged pupils and 52.4% of all other pupils got a grade 5 or above.
The ‘disadvantage gap index’ was at its widest since the 2010 to 2011 school year. This index measures the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and all other pupils.
Girls were more likely than boys to get a grade 5 or above, regardless of their disadvantage status. For non-disadvantaged pupils, 55% of girls and 50% of boys got a grade 5 or above. For disadvantaged pupils, 27% of girls and 24% of boys got a grade 5 or above.
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.
There were large variations between FSM-eligible pupils in different ethnic groups. For example, 75% of FSM-eligible pupils from the Chinese ethnic group got a grade 5 or above, compared with 3% of Gypsy or Roma pupils.
For FSM-eligible pupils, those from south Asian ethnic groups – such as Indian and Bangladeshi (both 49%) – were more likely to get a grade 5 or above compared with White British (18%) or Mixed White and Black Caribbean (19%) pupils.
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, September 2018 to July 2023)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| School year | Disadvantaged (%) | Not known to be disadvantaged (%) | Total (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 25.2 | 52.4 | 45.3 |
| 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 |
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By year
Visualisation
Disadvantage attainment gap index over time (England, September 2010 to July 2023)
Data
| School year | Disadvantage attainment gap index |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.95 |
| 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 | 3.80 |
| 2013/14 | 3.74 |
| 2012/13 | 3.81 |
| 2011/12 | 3.89 |
| 2010/11 | 4.07 |
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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, 2022 to 2023 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 lines either side of the dots represent confidence intervals – the range of values that the 'true' value for each region is highly likely to be within. In many cases the confidence intervals overlap. This suggests differences between specific regions may not be statistically significant.
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 | 24.7 | 55.0 |
| Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | 24.5 | 56.6 |
| Cheshire | 18.4 | 50.9 |
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | 19.2 | 44.5 |
| Cumbria | 18.6 | 44.1 |
| Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire | 20.7 | 49.2 |
| Devon | 20.5 | 50.7 |
| Dorset and Somerset | 22.0 | 48.8 |
| East Anglia | 21.4 | 47.6 |
| East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire | 20.6 | 45.0 |
| Essex | 20.6 | 49.4 |
| Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area | 21.1 | 51.6 |
| Greater Manchester | 25.2 | 49.8 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | 16.9 | 48.2 |
| Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire | 21.0 | 51.4 |
| Inner London - East | 40.0 | 57.5 |
| Inner London - West | 42.1 | 65.0 |
| Kent | 21.5 | 52.6 |
| Lancashire | 20.1 | 49.0 |
| Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | 23.6 | 47.8 |
| Lincolnshire | 22.4 | 48.8 |
| Merseyside | 17.3 | 46.1 |
| North Yorkshire | 21.1 | 51.3 |
| Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear | 21.3 | 50.1 |
| Outer London - East and North East | 34.2 | 56.2 |
| Outer London - South | 33.5 | 63.1 |
| Outer London - West and North West | 38.8 | 62.6 |
| Shropshire and Staffordshire | 17.9 | 43.8 |
| South Yorkshire | 22.2 | 49.0 |
| Surrey, East and West Sussex | 21.4 | 53.4 |
| Tees Valley and Durham | 23.0 | 49.5 |
| West Midlands | 27.0 | 49.1 |
| West Yorkshire | 23.8 | 50.3 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By sex
Visualisation
Percentage of pupils getting a grade 5 or above in GCSE English and maths, by disadvantage status and sex (England, school year 2022 to 2023)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Disadvantaged status | Boys (%) | Girls (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Disadvantaged | 23.6 | 26.8 |
| Not known to be disadvantaged | 50.1 | 54.7 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By ethnicity
Visualisation
Percentage of FSM-eligible pupils getting a grade 5 or above in GCSE English and maths, by ethnicity (England, school year 2022 to 2023)
Data
| Ethnicity | FSM eligible (%) | Not known to be FSM eligible (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Asian - Bangladeshi | 48.8 | 61.2 |
| Asian - Chinese | 75.3 | 78.5 |
| Asian - Indian | 48.6 | 72.1 |
| Asian - Pakistani | 36.2 | 49.6 |
| Asian - Any other Asian background | 44.0 | 67.3 |
| Black - Black African | 42.0 | 53.9 |
| Black - Black Caribbean | 22.2 | 36.9 |
| Black - Any other Black background | 29.1 | 45.4 |
| Mixed - White and Asian | 33.0 | 62.6 |
| Mixed - White and Black African | 29.7 | 51.5 |
| Mixed - White and Black Caribbean | 19.2 | 37.7 |
| Mixed - Any other Mixed background | 31.3 | 56.1 |
| White - White British | 18.0 | 48.9 |
| White - Irish | 19.4 | 62.3 |
| White - Gypsy/Roma | 3.3 | 12.7 |
| White - Traveller of Irish heritage | 9.5 | 33.3 |
| White - Any other White background | 30.6 | 51.0 |
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, 2023
Time period
- September 2018 to July 2023 (By disadvantage status)
- September 2010 to July 2023 (By year)
- 2022 to 2023 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
- were 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. A disadvantage gap score of 0 means there was no difference in achievement. 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 2022 to 2023 are based on revised data. Figures for the school year ending in July 2019 and July 2022 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, ‘2023’ refers to the 2022 to 2023 academic year.
Type of data
Administrative data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2024 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 36KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Indicator code
- Indicator name
- Area type
- Area code
- Area name
- Time period
- Socio-economic background
- Age
- Sex
- Category type
- Category
- Value
- Sample size
- Unit
- Quintile
Page history
Publication release date:
11 September 2024