Final GCSE and A-level results: Southwark pupils outperform national averages

12 February 2024

Last summer, Southwark Council joined pupils, teachers and families in celebrating positive provisional GCSE and A-level results. Now, the revised grades are cause for further celebration.

The revised scores include any remarks and grade adjustments by the Department for Education.

Southwark’s revised GCSE results for 2023 show improvement across the board compared to 2019 – the year before the pandemic when exam conditions were similar – beating the London and national average in all measures.

More good news for Southwark’s revised A-level results, particularly among the highest grades. For the fifth successive year, Southwark’s pupils outperformed the national average of achieving three or more A* or A grades at A-level with a 2.8 percentage point increase in pupils awarded these grades (from 11.1 per cent in 2019 to 14.0 per cent this year). 

Cllr Jasmine Ali, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education, said: “A truly remarkable set of final grades for all our young people who sat exams last year. I am thrilled that Southwark schools top the leader boards once again. It is testament to the incredible hard work and dedication of our young people and their fantastic teachers. 

“In Southwark, we won’t accept anything less than the very best start in life for all our young people. I am delighted that last year’s GCSE and A-level pupils have such strong results to take forward with them in whatever they want to achieve.”

Key stage 4 performance in 2023

Revised GSCE results showed that 73.1 per cent of Southwark pupils achieved a standard pass (up 6.8 percentage points from 66.3 per cent in 2019) and 55.4 per cent achieved a strong pass (up 9.9 percentage points from 2019) in both English and mathematics.

Results for the English Baccalaureate also improved: the average score per pupil in Southwark was 4.75, up 0.30 points from 4.45 per cent in 2019.

Attainment 8, the measure of achievement across eight qualifications including English and maths, has gone up by 2.4 points for all schools from 49.5 points in 2019 to 51.9 points in 2023. This compares to 46.4 nationally and 50.6 across London. 

Key stage 5 performance in 2023

Revised A-level results showed that 24.5 per cent of Southwark pupils achieved AAB or better passes (up 4.1 percentage points from 20.4 per cent in 2019). This means Southwark’s performance for this measure was better than that reported at the national level for the seventh consecutive year.

The Average Point Score (APS) per best three A-level entries is a measure based on the best three A-level grades for each A-level pupil. Southwark’s final score for 2023 was 37.14 (up 2.44 points from 34.70 points in 2019), beating the national equivalent and ranking Southwark the 15th highest out of all 121 other local authorities. 

Page last updated: 12 February 2024

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