A*-c Rate Maths And English

Across all GCSE subjects in 2015 nearly seven out of 10 entrants (68.8%) in England and Wales were awarded grades between A* and C, which meant the rate was slightly up (by 0.2 percentage points) on 2014.

However, the latest figures from the Joint Council for Qualifications also show that the proportion of students receiving the top two grades of A* and A - now 21.2% - is down 0.1 percentage points on 2014. A* grades across all subjects fell by a percentage point to 6.6%, the fourth consecutive year there has been a drop.

The rise in the general A* to C rate was driven by a rise of nearly four percentage points on 2014 in the slice of students getting at least a C in the English language exam, which went up to 65.4%. In maths, 63.3% of entrants got a grade between A* and C compared to 62.4% last year.

When it comes to participation, one of the key trends this year was a decline in the number of students taking the main modern foreign languages. Entries for French were down 6.2%, German 9.2% and Spanish 2.4%, despite a rise in grades across all those subjects. In total there were 302,158 entrants for the three modern languages compared to 320,961 the year before.

This is part of a long-term trend. Since 2005, French entries have dropped 42% while those for German have nearly halved. Spanish is the exception with a 45.3% increase in its popularity over that time.

Mathematics remained the most popular subject with 761,230 entrants compared with 736,403 in 2014. There was, however, a considerable decline in the number doing English literature, which was down by 8.7% on last year to 436,546 entrants.

There was an increase of half a percentage point in the proportion of entrants getting an A* in Maths, which went up to 6.1%. In seven of the top 10 most popular subjects, though, there was at least a slight decline in the proportion of students getting the top grade: English, English literature, history, religious studies, science, additional science, and design and technology.

The A* rate was the same as 2014 for both Geography (9.2%) and what the JCQ collectively calls art and design subjects (8.9%).