15.08.2025

Record number of young people across England celebrate exam results

Hundreds of thousands of young people across England are celebrating receiving their A level, T Level and Vocational Technical Qualification (VTQ) results.

University continues to be a popular choice for young people with record numbers (193,510, up from 184,400 in 2024) of English 18-year-olds receiving their first choice of university. 20.4% of disadvantaged 18-year-olds being accepted to higher education, up from 19.8% in 2024 and 17.4% in 2019.

T Levels also continue to deliver strong results for students. The overall pass rate for T Levels is 91.4%, with almost two thirds of students (65.3%) achieving a merit or above, as this innovative new qualification offering hands-on experience of work in an in-demand sector continues to grow. Last year, 97% of T Level students who applied to university received at least one offer, with others progressing onto an apprenticeship or a job. T Level industry placements offer strong work experience, insights into competitive sectors which students might not otherwise get, and lead to good jobs - with around a third of students that get jobs after their course doing so with their chosen T Level industry placement employer.

The figures build on the government’s drive to deliver the skilled workforce the country needs and follows the announcement of a new £100 million investment just this week in 10 specialist Construction Technical Excellence Colleges to offer even more opportunities to build successful careers in trades.

Results show that:

at grade C and above at A level, the North East is now the only region where attainment remains below pre-pandemic levels
more pupils are taking maths, physics and chemistry A levels than at any other time since modern records began - and more of these pupils taking these subjects are achieving a grade C - preparing them to work in the STEM sectors in the future
almost 12,000 students received T Level results this year, up from just over 7,000 last year and around 3,500 in 2023
almost 240,000 certificates were awarded for those completing their Level 3 vocational and technical qualifications

24.9% of 18-year-olds from the North East have secured a university place on results day compared to 43.4% of 18-year-olds from London. This gap is now 18.5 percentage points, which is the highest on record, up from 17.3 percentage points in 2024 and 11.9 in 2019.

For A level results the gap between this year’s lowest performing region (East Midlands) and highest performing (London) is 6.0 percentage points at C and above. While the gap has decreased from 6.3 percentage points in 2024 it is still greater than in 2019 (when the equivalent gap was 5.2 percentage points).

To further break down barriers to opportunity for young people, the government has also launched the Youth Guarantee, which will ensure that every 18 to 21-year-old in England will have support to access an apprenticeship, quality training and education opportunities or help to find a job, backed by £45 million investment.

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