The English Baccalaureate entry rate has reached 40 per cent for the first time, new data shows.
Department for Education statistics published today show that, in 2019, 216,986 pupils (40 per cent) were entered for all five EBacc components, the highest entry rate since the measure was introduced in 2010.
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This compares to a 38.4 per cent entry rate the previous year - a rise of 1.6 percentage points.
The EBacc consists of GCSEs in English, maths, a science, a language, and history or geography.
Schools minister Nick Gibb said: “The EBacc is instrumental in driving up educational standards. Overall more pupils are studying these core academic subjects than at any time since the EBacc measure was introduced and the entry rate is particularly high in our free schools.”