Boys in England drive stronger GCSE maths results as top grades edge higher
Almost one in four boys in England scored the top grades in GCSE maths this year, helping push overall results for 16-year-olds a little higher.
Almost one in four boys in England scored the top grades in GCSE maths this year, helping push overall results for 16-year-olds a little higher. The gain was modest, but it lifted the share of top marks to its highest level outside the Covid years.
The overall proportion of students in England receiving grades 7, 8 or 9 rose by 0.1 percentage point to 23.1%, while 70.7% gained a grade 4 or better, up from 70.5% in 2025. Nearly 700,000 16-year-olds took the exams.
Maths lifts the headline figure
Maths did much of the heavy lifting. In the compulsory subject, 22.3% of entries reached grades 7 and above. Boys outpaced girls: 24% of boys hit that level, compared with 20.5% of girls. That gap stood out in a year when the overall picture was slightly brighter.
There was no dramatic surge. Just a nudge. But in exam results, small moves matter, and this one pushed year 11 pupils to a record level for higher grades in England outside the pandemic period, when exams were replaced by teacher assessments.
English improved across the board
English also improved across the board, giving the GCSE cohort another lift. The stronger performance in that subject helped balance the mixed picture elsewhere and added to the sense that this year’s results were firmer than last year’s.
Girls, though, saw a dip at the lower end. Their share of grades 4 and above slipped from 71% to 70.7%. Boys improved. The details point to a familiar pattern in the data: English and maths still shape the national results, and tiny changes in either can move the overall figure.
A close read of the results
The numbers matter beyond England. GCSEs are closely watched internationally because they mark the end of compulsory secondary education and often feed into later academic and vocational choices. For school systems elsewhere, the latest figures offer another snapshot of how hard it can be to shift attainment in core subjects, especially maths.
For now, the key story is simple. England’s 16-year-olds did slightly better than last year, boys led the way in top-tier maths scores, and the next set of results will show whether that edge holds or fades.
