GCSE results day 2026: West Midlands among England's worst areas for pass rates

The proportion of GCSE entries awarded grade 4 or above in the West Midlands was the lowest in England, exam results show.

London again has the highest rate at 71.7 per cent, up from 71.6 per cent in 2025, but here it is the West Midlands that has the lowest figure, at 62.4 per cent, down from 62.9 per cent in 2025.

In the West Midlands, 18.3 per cent of entries received grade 7 or above, down from 18.5 per cent last year.

However, it wasn’t the lowest score in the nation with the East Midlands achieving 18.2 per cent and North-east England 17.7 per cent.

The gap has widened between the proportion of GCSE entries in London awarded the top grades and those in both northern England and the Midlands.

Some 28.6 per cent of entries in the capital received grade 7 or above this year, up from 28.4 per cent in 2025 and the highest for any region in England.

The gap between London and North-east England now stands at 10.9 percentage points, up from 10.6 in 2025 and the largest since the start of available data in 2010.

There has also been a widening of the gap between London and both the East and West Midlands, to the largest size since at least 2010.

The East Midlands was 10.4 points behind London (up from 10.3 points in 2025), while the West Midlands was 10.3 points behind London (up from 9.9).

Here are the percentages of GCSE entries awarded the top grades of 7/A or higher by nation and region in 2026, with the equivalent figures for 2025 and the pre-pandemic year of 2019:

– North-east England 17.7% (2025: 17.8%; 2019: 16.4%)

– North-west England 18.9% (2025: 18.8%; 2019: 18.6%)

– Yorkshire & the Humber 19.0% (2025: 18.4%; 2019: 17.8%)

– West Midlands 18.3% (2025: 18.5%; 2019: 18.1%)

– East Midlands 18.2% (2025: 18.1%; 2019: 18.3%)

– Eastern England 22.0% (2025: 22.2%; 2019: 20.5%)

– South-west England 21.0% (2025: 21.4%; 2019: 20.4%)

– South-east England 24.5% (2025: 24.6%; 2019: 23.5%)

– London 28.6% (2025: 28.4%; 2019: 25.7%)

– England 21.8% (2025: 21.8%; 2019: 20.7%)

– Wales 19.6% (2025: 19.5%; 2019: 18.4%)

– Northern Ireland 31.7% (2025: 31.6%; 2019: 30.5%)

– All 22.0% (2025: 21.9%; 2019: 20.8%)

Here are the percentages of GCSE entries awarded 4/C or higher, by nation and region:

– North-east England 65.2% (2025: 64.9%; 2019: 63.8%)

– North-west England 63.9% (2025: 64.2%; 2019: 64.9%)

– Yorkshire & the Humber 64.2% (2025: 63.6%; 2019: 64.1%)

– West Midlands 62.4% (2025: 62.9%; 2019: 63.8%)

– East Midlands 65.0% (2025: 65.0%; 2019: 65.8%)

– Eastern England 67.6% (2025: 68.0%; 2019: 67.1%)

– South-west England 68.3% (2025: 69.1%; 2019: 68.3%)

– South-east England 70.0% (2025: 70.0%; 2019: 70.2%)

– London 71.7% (2025: 71.6%; 2019: 70.6%)

– England 67.0% (2025: 67.1%; 2019: 67.1%)

– Wales 62.3% (2025: 62.5%; 2019: 62.8%)

– Northern Ireland 83.6% (2025: 83.5%; 2019: 82.2%)

– All 67.3% (2025: 67.4%; 2019: 67.3%)