Private school students recorded a larger year-on-year drop in top GCSE grades this results day compared with state schools, while grammar schools saw the smallest dip.

The proportion of entries awarded a grade 7/A or above at independent schools fell 8.2 percentage points in the first return to exams in two years, compared with 2021, when final marks were determined by teacher-assessed grades - from 61.2 per cent to 53 per cent, according to Ofqual data.

But at selective state schools, top grades fell just 2.3 percentage points, from 68.5 to 66.2 per cent.

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At state academies, top grades fell just 2.4 percentage points from 28 to 25.6 per cent, though proportionally, this represents a steeper drop.

Students at both independent schools and grammar schools achieved a greater proportion of top grades than in 2019, the last time exams were sat.

In that year, 47 per cent of independent school entries were awarded 7/A or above, while 58.1 per cent of selective state school entries achieved top marks.

Last week, when A-level results were awarded, the proportion of A* grades awarded to private schools fell 11 percentage points from last year’s figure, narrowing the gap with the state sector.

Stark divide remains

Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said the results showed there was still a “stark divide” in our education system.

He added: “GCSE entries from independent schools are still twice as likely to be graded 7 or A and above than entries from state academies. This gap has increased slightly compared with 2019 when GCSEs were last taken.

“We have to ask ourselves whether an academic system that leaves over a third of pupils failing to reach a standard pass in maths, and just under 3 in 10 pupils failing a standard pass in English, is adequately serving our children and society”.

Reacting to today’s results, Barnaby Lenon, chair of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), said that, nationally, results were not surprising for independent schools, as all schools had been warned about a drop in top grades.

However, he added: “On a school level, we do see surprises. I have had some schools ringing me up and saying they had done far better than last year. There will also be schools that have not rung me, who have done far worse.

“I think Ofqual have done very well with the grading as I think the decision to go between last year’s results and 2019‘s results works well. It strikes the balance between getting the standard right and recognising the challenges this cohort has faced”.