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You might think fondly of your time as a student, but we’re sure you haven’t forgotten about the stress before big exams. At the end of secondary school education, 16-year-olds in the UK take their GCSE exams. In 2020, over 5.2 million tests were made. We unpacked the statistics to get the lowdown on GCSE exams and results.
In 2020, there are over 32,770 schools in the UK, 4,188 of which are secondary schools. There are significantly more primary schools in the UK, with 20,832 open in 2020, which is close to five times the number of secondary schools.
Since last year, 674 new nurseries have opened in the UK. It’s the only kind of school that has increased this year. In total, there are 8 less primary schools, 2 less secondary schools and 33 less “other” types of schools (independent schools, special schools and pupil referral units).
Explore the graphic and table below to see the total number of schools by type in both 2019 and 2020.
Type of school | Number of schools 2019 | Number of schools 2020 |
---|---|---|
Nurseries | 3,040 | 3,714 |
Primary | 20,840 | 20,832 |
Secondary | 4,190 | 4,188 |
Other | 4,050 | 4,017 |
Over the past 20 years (2000/2001-2019/2020), the amount of public sector spending on education has almost doubled (1.9x). And since 2015/2016, expidenture on the UK school system has risen by almost 9%.
The total spending in 2019/2020 was £92.4 million, with 50% of this being spent on secondary education. That is 47% more than the budget for pre-primary and primary education, and 10 times more than the spend on tertiary education.
Type of school | 2015/2016 | 2016/2017 | 2017/2018 | 2018/2019 | 2019/2020 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pre-primary and primary education | £31,203,000 | £31,045,000 | £30,634,000 | £30,566,000 | £31,670,000 |
Secondary education | £38,972,000 | £38,928,000 | £40,971,000 | £43,089,000 | £46,555,000 |
Post-secondary non-tertiary education | £508,000 | £594,000 | £581,000 | £485,000 | £586,000 |
Tertiary education | £6,164,000 | £6,066,000 | £5,419,000 | £4,621,000 | £4,373,000 |
Education not definable by level | £632,000 | £808,000 | £908,000 | £803,000 | £950,000 |
Subsidiary services to education | £3,504,000 | £3,393,000 | £3,385,000 | £3,646,000 | £3,870,000 |
R&D education | £1,573,000 | £1,703,000 | £1,815,000 | £2,259,000 | £2,324,000 |
Education n.e.c. | £2,358,000 | £2,369,000 | £2,344,000 | £2,582,000 | £2,068,000 |
Total | £84,914,000 | £84,906,000 | £86,057,000 | £88,051,000 | £92,396,000 |
In 2020, over 5.2 million tests were made by 16-year-olds who took their GCSE exams in England. The most popular modern languages were French (124,043 tests), Spanish (103,992 tests) and German (40,688 tests). Out of these, the best results were seen by the pupils that chose German; 19.8% got a grade 8 or above. Of those studying Spanish, 19.2% got a grade 8 or above, and of those studying French, 17.4% got this grade.
The best performance overall was in the classical subjects, where 58.8% of pupils got a grade 8 or higher. The second best results were in other modern languages (excluding French, German and Spanish), where 52.1% got a grade 8 or higher. Also in the top 10 list, we can also find artistic subjects such as performing/expressive arts and drama, where 22.2% and 21.5% of the students respectively scored a grade 8 or higher.
Subject group | Percentage of students with a grade 8 or higher |
---|---|
Classical subjects | 58.80% |
Other modern languages | 52.10% |
Other sciences | 42.20% |
Chemistry | 33.50% |
Biology | 33.30% |
Physics | 33.20% |
Music | 29.10% |
Economics | 28.80% |
Performing/expressive arts | 22.20% |
Drama | 21.50% |
In 2020, the number of students achieving a grade 7/A or above was around one in four (25.9%). This is higher than it was in earlier years; in 2019, 20.6% of students got 7/A or higher.
Over the last 12 years, fewer than 2% of students failed their GCSE exams, and in 2020, 99.6% of students achieved at least one grade 1/G or above – 1.3% more than the year before.
Year | Grade 1/G and above | Grade 4/C and above | Grade 7/A and above |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | 98.40% | 65.50% | 20.60% |
2009 | 98.60% | 66.90% | 21.50% |
2010 | 98.70% | 69.00% | 22.60% |
2011 | 98.80% | 69.80% | 23.30% |
2012 | 99.00% | 69.50% | 22.30% |
2013 | 98.80% | 67.90% | 21.20% |
2014 | 98.50% | 68.60% | 21.10% |
2015 | 98.60% | 68.80% | 21.00% |
2016 | 98.40% | 66.60% | 20.30% |
2017 | 98.50% | 66.10% | 19.80% |
2018 | 98.40% | 66.60% | 20.30% |
2019 | 98.30% | 67.00% | 20.60% |
2020 | 99.60% | 76.00% | 25.90% |
Looking to save a few more pennies while at university? Check out a list of Amazon Prime Student benefits and find a way to become a Prime Student for free.
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