Equalities Analysis of General Qualifications in Summer 2023
This release presents statistics on differences in qualification results by learner characteristics.
Key points
16-year-olds taking GCSEs
- In summer 2023, 25.3% of GCSE grades awarded to female learners were grade A/7 or above, compared to 17.8% for male learners. 69.1% of grades awarded to female learners were C/4 or above, compared to 62.0% for male learners.
- For learners eligible for free school meals, 8.3% of grades awarded in summer 2023 were A/7 or above and 41.6% were C/4 or above. For learners not eligible, 24.1% of grades were A/7 or above and 70.0% were C/4 or above.
- 7.8% of grades awarded to learners with an ALN/SEN provision were A/7 or above, compared to 22.9% of grades awarded to learners with no provision. The proportion of grades awarded at grade C/4 or above was 38.2% for learners with an ALN/SEN provision and 68.2% for learners with no provision.
- Compared to other groups, learners in the “Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh” ethnic group achieved the highest results at all key grade thresholds in summer 2023. Results for learners in the “Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African” ethnic group saw the largest percentage point increase compared to 2019.
AS and A levels
- In summer 2023, 13.0% of A level grades awarded to both male and female 18-year-olds were A* At all other grades, female learners achieved higher results than male learners. Female 17-year-olds also achieved higher AS results than male learners at all grades.
- In summer 2023, the attainment gaps in top grades achieved at AS and A level between learners in the most and least deprived areas was wider than in summer 2019. Compared to summer 2022, the gap was narrower at AS grade A and A level grade A*, and the gap is wider at A level grades A* to A.
Due to the different awarding arrangements that took place, results in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 are not directly comparable to each other, or to results in previous years.
More information about results by pupil characteristics can be found in the Examination Results release published by the Welsh Government.
Contact
Statistician
Tel: 01633 373 292
Email: statistics@qualifications.wales
Press
Tel: 01633 373 222
Email: media@qualifications.wales