GCSE attainment by ethnicity (2022/23)
This indicator was last updated in March 2024. It is now archived and will no longer be updated. Explore London’s Poverty Profile to view our up to date indicators. If you have any questions, get in touch.
GCSE attainment is higher in London than in England overall. This is true for both boys and girls, students who do not speak English as a first language, students with Special Educational Needs and students from minority ethnic backgrounds.
Attainment decreased from 2021/22 to 2022/23 in London and England across almost all groups. The only exceptions were Chinese students in London, whose grades improved, and Chinese students in England, whose grades stayed stable. The largest relative fall in attainment was recorded for students with a Special Educational Needs statement.
The decrease in grades from 2021/22 to 2022/23 is likely due to a return to normal examination formats after the big disruptions to the education system caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the previous two years, GCSE exams were cancelled - instead, students obtained teacher-produced grades, which very likely contributed to grade inflation in a substantial way. Therefore, lower attainment scores do not necessarily reflect reduced performance.
In both London and England, girls perform better at GCSE than boys, with 73.2% of girls achieving grades 9-4 (the equivalent of A*-C under the old system) in English and Maths in London, but only 69.2% of boys.
In London, 71.9% of students with English as a second language achieved grades 9-4 in English and Maths compared to 70.9% of those who speak English as a first language, with a similar pattern found in England overall.
Students with Special Educational Needs have much lower attainment than the average student and the attainment gap is roughly the same in London and the rest of England.
In London, Chinese and Asian students have the highest attainment with pass rates of 92.3% and 80.4% respectively, which is significantly higher than the pass rate of all students - 71.2%.