A North-South regional divide has emerged in A-level results, as the first exam results since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic also showed a dip in top grades.
In a blow to Downing Street’s levelling up agenda, analysis has revealed a sharper decrease in A* and A grades handed out in the North East of England compared with the South East.
A social mobility charity said the government needed to do more to address disparities, while Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Students in the North East are no less capable, but after 12 years of Conservative governments they’re seeing their results go backwards compared to their peers across the South of England.”
