Strong pass in English and maths GCSE in England's schools
Across England's state schools, strong pass in english and maths gcse averaged 46.1% in 2024/25 (3,207 schools). Since 2017 it has risen by 0.7 points, which is good news. Official definition: grade 5+ in english and maths.
The trend
Trend
Strong pass in English and maths GCSE
2017 to 2025
Since 2017: +0.7%
Year by year
| Year | All | Primary | Secondary | Schools |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 46.1% | – | 46.1% | 3,207 |
| 2023/24 | 46.9% | – | 46.9% | 3,135 |
| 2022/23 | 46.0% | – | 46.0% | 3,056 |
| 2021/22 | 50.6% | – | 50.6% | 2,984 |
| 2018/19 | 44.7% | – | 44.7% | 2,703 |
| 2017/18 | 45.1% | – | 45.1% | 2,529 |
| 2016/17 | 45.4% | – | 45.4% | 2,354 |
By region
Latest year, best first. The tick is the England figure.
Every council
150 councils ranked, best first. Councils with very few schools swing more from year to year.
| # | Council | Strong pass in English and maths GCSE | Schools | vs England |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sutton | 71.5% | 15 | +25.3 pts |
| 2 | Kingston upon Thames | 69.8% | 11 | +23.7 pts |
| 3 | Barnet | 65.3% | 27 | +19.2 pts |
| 4 | Trafford | 65.1% | 18 | +19.0 pts |
| 5 | Hammersmith and Fulham | 63.7% | 11 | +17.5 pts |
| 6 | Richmond upon Thames | 63.7% | 11 | +17.5 pts |
| 7 | Wokingham | 62.6% | 9 | +16.4 pts |
| 8 | Kensington and Chelsea | 61.5% | 6 | +15.3 pts |
| 9 | Redbridge | 61.1% | 19 | +14.9 pts |
| 10 | Southend-on-Sea | 60.3% | 12 | +14.1 pts |
| 11 | Westminster | 59.2% | 11 | +13.1 pts |
| 12 | Buckinghamshire | 59.2% | 36 | +13.0 pts |
| 13 | Slough | 58.5% | 15 | +12.4 pts |
| 14 | Ealing | 57.7% | 16 | +11.6 pts |
| 15 | Wandsworth | 57.4% | 11 | +11.3 pts |
| 16 | Torbay | 56.5% | 8 | +10.4 pts |
| 17 | Merton | 56.3% | 8 | +10.2 pts |
| 18 | Reading | 56.2% | 9 | +10.1 pts |
| 19 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 56.0% | 22 | +9.9 pts |
| 20 | York | 55.6% | 9 | +9.4 pts |
| 21 | Surrey | 55.1% | 53 | +8.9 pts |
| 22 | Bromley | 54.9% | 19 | +8.7 pts |
| 23 | Gloucestershire | 54.4% | 39 | +8.2 pts |
| 24 | Harrow | 53.9% | 13 | +7.7 pts |
| 25 | Bexley | 53.7% | 16 | +7.6 pts |
| 26 | Brent | 53.7% | 15 | +7.5 pts |
| 27 | Hounslow | 53.5% | 20 | +7.4 pts |
| 28 | Hertfordshire | 53.1% | 78 | +7.0 pts |
| 29 | Southwark | 53.1% | 20 | +7.0 pts |
| 30 | Warwickshire | 52.6% | 36 | +6.4 pts |
| 31 | Calderdale | 51.6% | 11 | +5.5 pts |
| 32 | Newham | 51.5% | 20 | +5.4 pts |
| 33 | Cambridgeshire | 51.0% | 34 | +4.9 pts |
| 34 | Islington | 49.9% | 8 | +3.7 pts |
| 35 | Hackney | 49.6% | 16 | +3.5 pts |
| 36 | Greenwich | 49.3% | 16 | +3.2 pts |
| 37 | Windsor and Maidenhead | 49.3% | 10 | +3.1 pts |
| 38 | Havering | 49.0% | 18 | +2.8 pts |
| 39 | Kent | 48.7% | 100 | +2.5 pts |
| 40 | Camden | 48.4% | 10 | +2.3 pts |
| 41 | Tower Hamlets | 48.1% | 17 | +1.9 pts |
| 42 | Gateshead | 47.9% | 8 | +1.7 pts |
| 43 | Waltham Forest | 47.8% | 17 | +1.6 pts |
| 44 | Haringey | 47.7% | 12 | +1.6 pts |
| 45 | North Yorkshire | 47.7% | 41 | +1.6 pts |
| 46 | Stockton-on-Tees | 47.6% | 13 | +1.5 pts |
| 47 | Stockport | 47.5% | 13 | +1.3 pts |
| 48 | Wirral | 47.3% | 19 | +1.2 pts |
| 49 | Plymouth | 47.2% | 18 | +1.1 pts |
| 50 | Leicestershire | 47.1% | 43 | +1.0 pts |
| 51 | Bracknell Forest | 47.0% | 7 | +0.9 pts |
| 52 | Thurrock | 46.9% | 11 | +0.7 pts |
| 53 | Leeds | 46.9% | 42 | +0.7 pts |
| 54 | Birmingham | 46.8% | 85 | +0.7 pts |
| 55 | Oxfordshire | 46.6% | 41 | +0.5 pts |
| 56 | Hillingdon | 46.5% | 22 | +0.3 pts |
| 57 | Redcar and Cleveland | 46.5% | 10 | +0.3 pts |
| 58 | Leicester | 46.4% | 19 | +0.3 pts |
| 59 | Barking and Dagenham | 46.4% | 13 | +0.2 pts |
| 60 | Devon | 46.2% | 40 | +0.1 pts |
| 61 | Bristol, City of | 46.2% | 22 | +0.1 pts |
| 62 | West Sussex | 46.1% | 38 | 0.0 pts |
| 63 | Kirklees | 46.0% | 25 | -0.1 pts |
| 64 | West Berkshire | 46.0% | 9 | -0.2 pts |
| 65 | Nottinghamshire | 45.9% | 45 | -0.2 pts |
| 66 | Blackburn with Darwen | 45.8% | 12 | -0.3 pts |
| 67 | Lewisham | 45.8% | 14 | -0.3 pts |
| 68 | Enfield | 45.8% | 21 | -0.4 pts |
| 69 | Solihull | 45.7% | 15 | -0.4 pts |
| 70 | Barnsley | 45.5% | 10 | -0.6 pts |
| 71 | Brighton and Hove | 45.5% | 10 | -0.7 pts |
| 72 | Bolton | 45.4% | 19 | -0.8 pts |
| 73 | Medway | 45.2% | 18 | -0.9 pts |
| 74 | North Somerset | 45.1% | 11 | -1.0 pts |
| 75 | Wiltshire | 45.1% | 26 | -1.1 pts |
| 76 | Wakefield | 45.0% | 18 | -1.2 pts |
| 77 | Warrington | 44.9% | 13 | -1.2 pts |
| 78 | Milton Keynes | 44.7% | 14 | -1.5 pts |
| 79 | Norfolk | 44.6% | 53 | -1.6 pts |
| 80 | South Gloucestershire | 44.3% | 16 | -1.8 pts |
| 81 | Essex | 44.2% | 78 | -2.0 pts |
| 82 | Bedford | 44.1% | 12 | -2.0 pts |
| 83 | Bath and North East Somerset | 44.1% | 14 | -2.1 pts |
| 84 | Lancashire | 44.0% | 81 | -2.1 pts |
| 85 | Sheffield | 43.9% | 28 | -2.3 pts |
| 86 | Darlington | 43.9% | 8 | -2.3 pts |
| 87 | Manchester | 43.8% | 30 | -2.4 pts |
| 88 | Swindon | 43.6% | 14 | -2.6 pts |
| 89 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 43.5% | 12 | -2.6 pts |
| 90 | Herefordshire, County of | 43.5% | 15 | -2.6 pts |
| 91 | Hampshire | 43.5% | 67 | -2.6 pts |
| 92 | County Durham | 43.5% | 30 | -2.7 pts |
| 93 | Doncaster | 43.3% | 20 | -2.9 pts |
| 94 | Lincolnshire | 43.2% | 54 | -3.0 pts |
| 95 | East Sussex | 43.1% | 22 | -3.1 pts |
| 96 | Luton | 42.9% | 13 | -3.3 pts |
| 97 | Hartlepool | 42.9% | 5 | -3.3 pts |
| 98 | North Tyneside | 42.7% | 11 | -3.4 pts |
| 99 | Dudley | 42.4% | 18 | -3.8 pts |
| 100 | Sunderland | 42.4% | 18 | -3.8 pts |
| 101 | West Northamptonshire | 42.3% | 22 | -3.9 pts |
| 102 | East Riding of Yorkshire | 42.2% | 18 | -3.9 pts |
| 103 | Salford | 42.1% | 15 | -4.1 pts |
| 104 | Cornwall | 42.0% | 31 | -4.1 pts |
| 105 | Coventry | 42.0% | 22 | -4.1 pts |
| 106 | Cheshire West and Chester | 42.0% | 20 | -4.2 pts |
| 107 | Derbyshire | 41.8% | 45 | -4.3 pts |
| 108 | Lambeth | 41.8% | 15 | -4.4 pts |
| 109 | Central Bedfordshire | 41.6% | 15 | -4.5 pts |
| 110 | Telford and Wrekin | 41.5% | 12 | -4.6 pts |
| 111 | Westmorland and Furness | 41.4% | 20 | -4.7 pts |
| 112 | Somerset | 41.4% | 27 | -4.8 pts |
| 113 | Cheshire East | 41.2% | 22 | -5.0 pts |
| 114 | North Lincolnshire | 41.1% | 14 | -5.0 pts |
| 115 | Croydon | 41.1% | 23 | -5.0 pts |
| 116 | Worcestershire | 41.1% | 31 | -5.1 pts |
| 117 | Nottingham | 40.9% | 18 | -5.3 pts |
| 118 | Peterborough | 40.7% | 13 | -5.4 pts |
| 119 | Northumberland | 40.4% | 16 | -5.7 pts |
| 120 | Suffolk | 40.1% | 43 | -6.0 pts |
| 121 | Wolverhampton | 40.1% | 20 | -6.1 pts |
| 122 | South Tyneside | 39.8% | 8 | -6.3 pts |
| 123 | Southampton | 39.7% | 11 | -6.4 pts |
| 124 | Tameside | 39.6% | 13 | -6.5 pts |
| 125 | Sefton | 39.3% | 17 | -6.8 pts |
| 126 | Liverpool | 39.0% | 29 | -7.1 pts |
| 127 | Walsall | 39.0% | 19 | -7.1 pts |
| 128 | Kingston upon Hull, City of | 39.0% | 13 | -7.1 pts |
| 129 | Wigan | 38.6% | 19 | -7.5 pts |
| 130 | North Northamptonshire | 38.6% | 19 | -7.6 pts |
| 131 | Dorset | 38.5% | 18 | -7.7 pts |
| 132 | Derby | 38.4% | 16 | -7.7 pts |
| 133 | Rotherham | 38.3% | 15 | -7.8 pts |
| 134 | Portsmouth | 38.1% | 10 | -8.1 pts |
| 135 | Bury | 38.1% | 11 | -8.1 pts |
| 136 | Bradford | 38.0% | 35 | -8.2 pts |
| 137 | Isle of Wight | 37.8% | 7 | -8.3 pts |
| 138 | Staffordshire | 37.6% | 56 | -8.6 pts |
| 139 | North East Lincolnshire | 37.2% | 10 | -9.0 pts |
| 140 | Shropshire | 37.2% | 20 | -9.0 pts |
| 141 | Oldham | 36.7% | 10 | -9.4 pts |
| 142 | St. Helens | 36.6% | 7 | -9.5 pts |
| 143 | Halton | 36.2% | 8 | -9.9 pts |
| 144 | Middlesbrough | 36.1% | 8 | -10.1 pts |
| 145 | Rochdale | 35.9% | 11 | -10.3 pts |
| 146 | Stoke-on-Trent | 35.4% | 14 | -10.8 pts |
| 147 | Sandwell | 34.9% | 19 | -11.2 pts |
| 148 | Cumberland | 33.5% | 19 | -12.6 pts |
| 149 | Blackpool | 30.9% | 7 | -15.2 pts |
| 150 | Knowsley | 25.4% | 6 | -20.7 pts |
How to read this
Each figure is a simple average across open state schools that have the measure published. A school counts once whatever its size, so the figures can differ a little from the Department for Education's national figures, which count pupils. Special schools and alternative provision are left out of results measures. Independent schools are left out throughout. Sources and update calendar.