Education News | London schools outperform rest of country at GCSE's

Schools and students in London outperform rest of the country again

London students have maintained the capital’s record of producing the strongest GCSE results in the country, with the gap between the region and other parts of England widening.

Author | Sophie T

Some 28.6% of grades awarded to teenagers in the capital were at Grade 7 or above, the equivalent of an A, figures released on Thursday showed.

At City of London School, an impressive 97% of all grades were awarded at a school-record breaking 9 - 7, 84% of grades were at 9 - 8, while an exceptional 59% were awarded the top grade of 9.

City of London School

Students across Westminster are also celebrating after receiving their results. Like many across the area, Westminster students continue to outperform national averages. 

Provisional figures show that 65% of their entries achieved grades 9-5 across all subjects, compared to 52% nationally. Overall, 78% of entries achieved grades 9-4, compared to the national average of 67%. 

That was a 0.2 percentage point increase on 2025 and more than 10 points higher than the worst-performing region, the North East, where 17.7% of grades reached the top bracket.

The gap between London and the North East now stands at 10.9 percentage points, up from 10.6 last year and the widest recorded since comparable data began in 2010.

Outside of London

In the North West, 18.9% of entries were awarded Grade 7 or above, edging up from 18.8% in 2025. The gap with London has consequently increased to 9.7 percentage points from 9.6 last year, just short of the recent high of 9.9 points recorded in 2024.