Overall entries for GCSEs and A Levels have increased again this year, driven mostly by 16 and 18-year-old population rises.  Across all subjects, GCSE entries have increased by 4.8% this summer (to 5,811,790 entries) and A Level entries are up by 2.4% (to 825,390).

According to Ofqual’s latest exam entry figures for summer 2024, the main trends for this year include:

GCSE 

• Entries have increased for both EBacc subjects (up 4.9% to 4,776,980 entries) and non-EBacc subjects (up 4.6% to 1,034,805 entries). 
• The largest percentage increases for EBacc subjects behind compulsory maths and English are Spanish (up 6.8% to 129,940 entries) and computing (up 6.2% to 93,985 entries).  ancient languages is the only EBacc subject with decreased entries (down 1% to 11,175 entries). 
• For non-EBacc subjects, the largest percentage increase is for statistics (up 20.3% to 32,210 entries).  business studies entries have also increased greatly (up 11.2% to 127,310 entries). Citizenship and drama are the only two non-EBacc subjects with decreased entries (down 3.9% and 0.8% respectively). 
• The percentage of post-16 entries for maths and English has increased this year, potentially reflecting the return from alternative arrangements seen during the pandemic. 
• There has been a slight decrease in the percentage of students entering higher tier across all tiered subjects in 2024 when compared with the previous 5 years.
  

A Level 

Most A Level subjects have increased in entry size compared with last year. Further Maths has the biggest overall percentage increase (up 19.8% to 17,420 entries).  Entries for Maths have increased by 11.4% (to 101,230 entries) and physics and computing entries are both up by more than 10%. Psychology, sociology, history, geography and drama all have decreased entries this summer.

AS Level

The overall entries for AS have decreased by 4.5% this summer (to 59,935) although there are some increased entries this year including for maths, further maths and art and design subjects. AS Level entries have significantly decreased following the decoupling of AS and A Levels.

Data is based on provisional entries as at 18 April 2024.