GCSE Results Day 2025: How did state and private school pupils compare on top grades and overall performance?
When it comes to top grades, private schools are still dominating 📊
- GCSE results day is finally here for secondary school pupils across the country
- Some large and persistent attainment disparities remain, including between fees-free state and private schools
- But gaps in the amount of entries getting top grades and the ‘standard pass’ rates have narrowed a little
- A policy think tank is concerned that barriers to opportunity remain too high
Private schools are still seeing pupils rake in higher grades at much greater levels than their state school peers – but the gap has narrowed this year.
This Thursday (August 21) is GCSE results day, with hundreds of thousands of secondary school pupils at long last able to find out how they did in the summer exam series. Nationwide, results have been somewhat mixed this year, with the proportion of entries getting top grades rising a little, but the amount achieving a ‘standard pass’ of 4 or above taking a dip.
There also remained significant performance gaps between different parts of the country. London was the highest-achieving English region for top grades, with nearly 3 in 10 entries (28.4%) earning a 7 or above – a whole 10.6 performance points higher than the North East, where just 17.8% of entries achieved one.
With this in mind, we’ve also explored new data from England’s qualifications regulator Ofqual on the proportion of learners getting top grades or achieving at least a ‘standard pass’ of 4, based on whether they attended private or state-funded schools.
Private schools say they have been losing pupils en masse since they stopped being exempt from paying VAT on the fees they charge parents this year. But results day figures suggest the pupils that remain are still outpacing their peers in attainment, sparking serious inequality concerns from one expert think tank.
So how exactly do private and state schools actually compare when it comes to GCSE performance? Here is what the data tells us:
Private vs State Schools
When it comes to the proportion of GCSE entries that achieved a grade of 7, 8, or 9 this year, England’s private schools took the lead again – and by quite a lot.
Nearly half of all GCSEs taken by private school pupils (48.1%) resulted in a top grade. This was more than double the figure for state schools, where about one in five (20.7%) of all entries landed a 7 or higher.
Private schools also had a much higher rate of entries achieving a ‘standard pass’, which is generally considered to be a grade of 4 or up. Nearly 9 out of 10 (89.6%) GCSEs taken by private pupils earned at least a 4 – compared to about two-thirds of all entries (66.5%) by state school pupils.
However, the gaps have shrunk a little since last year. In 2024, the proportion of private school entries earning top grades was 27.7 percentage points higher than state school entries, but this has fallen by 0.3 to a 27.4 percentage point difference this year – as the number of private entries getting top grades fell a little, while state school entries rose.
The same trend could be seen with ‘standard pass’ rates. These dropped a little this year for both types of school. But they fell more sharply for independent school entries, making what was a 23.4 percentage point gap last year also shrink by 0.3, to a 23.1 percentage point difference this year.
‘Stark inequalities’ in education
Public policy think-tank the Social Market Foundation has also analysed the performance gaps between state and private schools, as well as between England’s different regions. Research director Dr Rebecca Montacute said that it was “disappointing” to still see them persist year after year.
“This shows the stark inequalities in our education system, which exist both between state and private schools, and within the state sector,” she continued.
“Talent and potential exist in every school, but those in private schools have access to far greater resources and support than their state school counterparts. Action is needed at every part of the education system, from pre-school through to post GCSE opportunities, to level the playing field and make the most of the potential of all students.”
While Labour’s efforts to break down barriers to opportunity was a welcome focus, she added that “we need to see much more from Government, including greater efforts to reduce child poverty, and improvements in every part of the education system, from the early years through to opportunities post GCSE”.
The Government has previously said that making private schools pay VAT on fees was a part of this mission. A spokesperson recently told us that removing the so-called “tax breaks” was expected to raise £1.8 billion a year by 2029/30. “This funding will help us recruit 6,500 new teachers and improve standards in state schools, which educate 94% of children”, they added.
However, private schools have been critical of the move. The Independent Schools Council says that at least 50 schools have closed so far this year, including some providing very specific kinds of specialist education, while some 11,000 children have had to transfer to state schools.
“Schools will always do all they can to keep fees affordable for parents,” she added. “A third of pupils at ISC schools receive some sort of fee assistance, and the amount spent on bursaries is at an all-time high. However, the Government’s decision to tax education will inevitably have an impact on cost, with a cumulative effect over several years.”
Want more GCSE results day coverage? Here’s how this year’s cohort as a whole did across the regions – and here are some of this year’s grade boundaries explored.