Tories have come under fire over an "unequal results day" which saw the number of teens picking up top A-level grades drop faster in the North East than the South East.
Labour has accused the government of allowing results to "go backwards" in regions across the UK on the day grades were released.
The fall in grades has been steepest in the North East, Yorkshire and Humber and the East Midlands - compared to the South East and London.
It comes after researchers found fewer than one in five students sitting exams this summer were able to get support from the "chaotic" tutoring programme introduced during the pandemic.
