This blog explores the initial JCQ 2025 A level data for 18 year olds in England and you can use the tools below to dig deeper into trends over time and subject grade breakdowns.
Grade breakdown over time
A Level outcomes have improved slightly from 2024 to 2025, with a rise in the proportion of entries achieving A*-C grades and a decrease to the proportion achieving D, E and U grades. As in 2024, B grade remains the most common outcome, with just over a quarter (27.3%) of entries across all subjects achieving a B grade in 2025.
Explore subject level changes over time in our interactive tool
A few key findings
- Although overall the proportion of entries achieving top grades increased in 2025, this change was not consistent across all subjects. Compared with outcomes in 2024, 19 subjects saw a rise in the proportion of entries achieving A* grades, while 16 saw a decrease.
- At 2.1% points, Other Modern Languages saw the largest increase from 2024 to 2025 in the proportion of entries achieving an A* grade.
- Art & Design subjects also saw a relatively large improvement in the proportion of entries achieving top grades, with 35.8% achieving an A* or A grade in 2025 compared with 32.2% in 2024.
- In contrast, Environmental Science and Spanish saw the largest decreases in the proportion of entries achieving either an A* or A grade, at 1.1% points and 1% point respectively.
A level grade breakdown by subject
Mathematics continues to be the most popular subject at 12.3% of all entries, followed by Psychology at 9.1%. In comparison to 2024, Mathematics, Economics, and Physics have seen the largest increases in the number of entries, while entries in Biology, History, Psychology, and Geography have fallen the most.
Explore this year’s A level grades by subject in our interactive tool
A few key findings
- At just over two in three (68.5%), Other Modern Languages continues to see a particularly high proportion of entries achieving either an A* or A grade in 2025.
- Similarly, Further Mathematics students continue to perform notably well, with just under three in five (59.7%) achieving an A* or A grade.
- Of the 10 most popular subjects, Business Studies had the lowest proportion of entries achieving an A* or A grade at only 16.5%.
- Outcomes for Accounting and Environmental Science students were also comparatively poor, with these subjects having the highest (39.2%) and second highest (38.1%) proportions of entries achieving a D grade or below respectively.
