The top performing state schools at A level

A levels by subject

There was a return to traditional subjects, such as maths, science and languages, with this year’s A levels.

English and maths remained the most popular subjects, accounting for 10.6 and 7.5 per cent respectively of entries. Entries in maths were up by 7.3 per cent and those in further maths increased by 8.3 per cent.

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There was also a small rise in the number of people taking chemistry and physics, but a slight fall in biology.

Entries in modern foreign languages were largely stable. There was an increase in entries for German and Spanish but a decrease in those for French.

By far the biggest increase in popularity was with critical thinking, a relative newcomer to A level, in which pupils acquire skills in logic and analysis. There were only 2,008 students taking the subject, but this was a 60 per cent increase on last year.

There were marked differences between subjects in the grades awarded, with 43.7 per cent of maths A levels given an A grade compared with 14 per cent in media studies. This is more likely to reflect the abilities of the students who take these subjects, rather than the difficulty of these areas of study.

Jim Knight, the Schools Minister, said that he was encouraged by the number of pupils taking subjects such as maths and science that are crucial for the economy. He was also pleased by an increase in the number of girls taking physics.

“In the case of mathematics, there has been a 14 per cent rise in uptake since 2004. We recognise the crucial importance of these subjects to the UK economy and want to accelerate this trend over the coming years.”

John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “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.

“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.”

There were concerns, however, about a 2.67 per cent drop in the number of students taking geography, continuing a downward trend started in 2002.

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