A Levels 2024: England's 10 best and worst performing counties when it comes to top grades

School is well and truly back in session across England, with a new cohort of sixth form students embarking on their A Level studies this year.

It was only in August that we found out how 2024’s secondary school leavers who sat their A Levels earlier this year fared. The total number of top A* grades awarded actually rose a little, while the overall pass rate dipped - although it remained in line with normal fluctuations.

However, performance gaps between England’s different regions do appear to have lingered on. When it comes to the proportion of A and A* grades awarded from total entries by region this year, Greater London students took out the top spot, with 31.3% of papers sat awarded an A.

The South East was a close second, with 30.8% As, while the rest, in order are: the East of England at 27.5%; the South West at 26.9%; the North West at 25.5%; the West Midlands at 24.8%; Yorkshire at 24.6%; the North East at 23.9%; and the East Midlands at 22.5%.

But regions are made up of many different counties, and breaking results down a little further give a broader insight into performance. So what does Ofqual’s data say about how England’s different counties fared when it came to the percentage of A Levels sat awarded an elusive A* top grade?

Here are the 10 highest and lowest performers from across the country: