Full results table, subject by subject

A record one in four A-level exams resulted in an A grade this year, as the pass rate rose for the 25th year in a row.

For the first time ever more than a quarter of exams were given A grades. Students in Northern Ireland scored even higher, with a third of all A-level exams warranting an A, the exam boards say.

The rising results came despite a revival in numbers of candidates sitting traditional, more difficult subjects. The fastest growing subjects included the sciences, mathematics and further mathematics.

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There was evidence of increasing grade inflation across all subjects, however, with one in ten students receiving at least three A grades. With so many students achieving straight A grades, universities and employers complain that it has become increasingly difficult to differentiate between candidates.

Stephen Williams, Liberal Democrat education spokesman, responded to the record results with a renewed call for a review of A-level standards, amid fears of dumbing down.

But Jim Knight, the schools minister, said it was “a real shame” that once again critics were undermining the hard work of the students. A review of A-level standards was carried out three years ago.

As the results envelopes landed on doormats this morning, there was joy and despair - and sometimes both. One father, whose twin daughters both secured five A grades today, described the system as a “lottery”.

Tania and Mahua Bhaduri both plan to study medicine, but while Mahua has secured a place at Imperial College London, Tania - described by her father as the brighter of the two - has been rejected by all five of her university choices and will have to take a gap year before reapplying next year.

“They can’t differentiate between bright and brighter and this is a problem. The two girls both did very well but only one of them got a place to go to university," said Dr Bim Bhaduri, their father. “I’m very proud of them but I’m disappointed by the system.”

Next year A levels will be reformed to include more difficult questions, and in 2010 a new A* grade will be introduced for the best students.

Dr Mike Cresswell, director general of the AQA exam board, argued that exams were not becoming easier. He pointed to the fact that results were improving most rapidly in independent schools and grammar schools, he suggested that if exams were becoming easier there would have been improvements across all schools.

“Whatever the usual grumpy old persons want to say about how it used to be much harder in their day, what we want to say is congratulations to the students,” he said.

Overall, 96.9 per cent of candidates taking A levels this summer achieved at least a grade E pass - up from 96.6 per cent last year.

Girls continued to score better grades than boys in every major subject apart from further maths and foreign languages.

The last ten years has seen a dramatic increase in the A grades awarded. In 1997, only 15.7 per cent of A-level exam entries were given A grades, but this year the top mark comprised 25.3 per cent of the results awarded in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Michael Gove, Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families said: “I’d like to congratulate Britain’s A-level students on their successes. Securing good results in these examinations follows years of hard work and dedicated application.”

In Northern Ireland, where a higher percentage of schools are grammar schools, the record high A-level grades were attributed to improved results in the unfashionable subjects of mathematics, languages and science.

Across the country, those subjects deemed to be most difficult were taken by an increasing number of people. Political studies, the sciences and German all saw significant increases in popularity, with an 8.28 per cent increase in students taking further maths this year.

John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said he was “delighted” more people were studying these subjects.

“I think the most likely reason is the recognition among young people that the best jobs are available for those who have got qualifications in maths, physical sciences and modern languages,” he said.

“Although these are widely recognised to be the hardest subjects, they are also the subjects in which the highest proportion get A and B grades because the brightest students take them.”

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