Almost 40% of students in Rutland gained a Grade 7 or higher in the most common GCSE subjects last year, making them the highest achieving region in the UK, according to new data. 

Students in Rutland topped the tables for seven and above grades achieved in the core subjects of English language (32.5%), English literature (33.9%), and combined science (17.4%). Also ranking in the top 10 for seven and above grades achieved in the remaining core subjects; physics (59.9%), chemistry (54.6%), biology (57.2%), and maths (31.7%).

The 2023 Knowledge Gap Report, from education software specialist Access Education, analysed Ofqual data from 2022 to reveal differences in regional attainment across England – and stark variations across subjects. 

Nearly 36% of students in Buckinghamshire gained an average of seven or above across the top 15 most common GCSE subjects that year, ranking as the second highest area for outstanding GCSE grades. This included core subject, maths, which 35% of students achieved a grade seven or above in. Merseyside, on the other hand, was the area with the biggest knowledge gap overall, where 31% of students would need to resit their maths GCSE.

Chemistry was the subject with the highest achievers. In 2022, the percentage of students across the UK achieving a Grade 7 and above ranged from 63.7% (Greater London) to 54.2% (Greater Manchester). 

Greater London also had the highest grades in Physics, with 63.6% of students achieving a seven and above respectively. For biology, it was Warwickshire, where 62.1% of students achieved a Grade 7 and above.

Rutland was the location with the highest achieving students overall, with 38.9% of pupils gaining Grade 7 or higher in 2022 across 15 subjects.

Rutland saw 38.9% achieve a grade 7 and above.

Other top areas included:

• Buckinghamshire - 35.8%
• Surrey - 35.6%
• Berkshire - 34.9%
• Hertfordshire - 34.9%
• Greater London - 33.9%
• Oxfordshire - 33.1%
• Cambridgeshire - 32.1%
• County of Bristol - 30.7%
• Warwickshire - 30.5%

Emma Slater, Senior Content Product Manager at Access Education, said: "GCSEs are the culmination of two years of hard work, and mark a very significant part in their life. From choosing their options at the start of the year to receiving their results in the summer, the whole process can influence a student's future experience in education or the working world. 

"Exams are already stressful and if the new Department for Education proposals come into force, pupils who fail GCSE English and maths could be banned from taking out student loans in the future too, raising the stakes even further.

"Even with the highest standards of teaching, there are numerous other factors that could affect a student's grades, including economic background – and as our research has shown, there are big disparities within regions and subjects. Using a digital learning platform for GCSE revision content can help schools to monitor where pupils are excelling or where they need extra support, and can tailor their teaching accordingly, helping to close the gaps." 

Ex-Headteacher and Examiner Lesley Moule also commented on the research

"No one wants to see regional disparity in education. The areas with the biggest knowledge gaps have also seen a decline in traditional employment so it's really important that students do not have knowledge gaps. Governments have tried to re-focus employment opportunities in 'the north' and surely do not want employees in these areas to lack skills that employers value.

"It's important to note that COVID and economic factors will have almost certainly played a role in these findings. Sociologists tell us the importance of economic factors in education and not all schools are as well-resourced as others. In some areas, it is difficult to recruit and retain teachers. Math teachers, in particular, are very hard to find and students in a catch-up situation are not always taught by specialists which is far from the ideal.

"Students had a very disrupted couple of years. For some, reintegration has been difficult and there are students that have not returned to school, preferring home education. But similarly, not every student's experience of working from home was as successful. In short, the results, albeit worrying, were not unexpected but the regional disparities give cause for concern."

Oakham School is just one of the schools celebrating high grades. Image credit: Nub News.