ALL Briefing No.36
Theme: A-level results 2023
Background: A-level results were released on 17 August 2023
JCQ Main results tables, press notice and other results tables for 2023 here:
https://www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/?post-year=2023&post-location=
Ofqual Guide to AS and A-level results for England 2023 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/guide-to-as-and-a-level-results-for-england-summer-2023#:~:text=Overall%20A%20level%20results%20in,compared%20to%2020.1%25%20in%202019
The FFT Datalab provided an excellent analysis in its post here: https://ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2023/08/a-level-and-other-level-3-results-2023-the-main-trends-in-grades-and-entries/
Key messages:
Ofqual announced as a policy decision that the grading for all subjects would return to pre-pandemic grading in England (i.e. as 2019), with protection in place to recognise the disruption that students have faced. This appears to be the case for languages in England. The devolved administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland, where AS levels still contribute to the final A level grade, have adopted a slightly different policy.
The overall number of A-level entries in all subjects has risen by 2.2% to 867,658 in 2023 with an increase of 0.5% in the 18-year-old population in 2023 compared with 2022. The 2023 overall entry figures are up from 804,851 in 2019 (7.8%) with the number of 18 year-olds up 1.2% on 2019.
However, the number of students studying A-level languages continues to be a matter of grave concern as French, German and Spanish are the subjects with the largest fall in entries this year:
French entries decreased by 10.9% from 7,929 in 2022 to 7,063 in 2023,
Spanish entries decreased by 10.8% from 9,088 to 8,110
and German dropped by 15.9% from 2,803 in 2022 to 2,358 in 2023.
Although there was an increase in numbers taking other languages 5,955 in 2023 compared with 5,385 in 2022 this is still well below the 2019 (8,289) and 2018 figures (9,673).
The total number of students taking a language at A-level (17,531 or 23,486 if all languages are included) remains very low, which raises concerns about the UK’s ability to produce enough qualified linguists for the country’s needs.
You can read the Teacher Briefing in full here: Briefing-36-A-levels-2023-2.pdf