Official Statistics

Provisional entries for GCSE, AS and A level: summer 2022 exam series

Published 26 May 2022

Applies to England

Summer 2022 series

This report presents provisional figures for the number of entries for GCSEs, AS and A levels submitted by schools and colleges in England to exam boards by 21 April 2022 for qualifications which are to be awarded in summer 2022.

Entries reflect the information submitted to exam boards at that time but numbers for final entries are always expected to vary to some degree.

Main trends

The main trends in provisional entries for GCSE, AS and A level for the summer 2022 series are:

• GCSE entries in summer 2022 have increased slightly by 0.9% from 5,301,075 in summer 2021 to 5,349,250 in summer 2022

• most tiered GCSE subjects have small decreases in the proportion of entries for the higher tier in summer 2022 compared to summer 2021

• AS entries in summer 2022 have increased by 9.9% from 58,300 in summer 2021 to 64,080 in summer 2022

• A level entries in summer 2022 have increased by 4.2% from 756,230 in summer 2021 to 788,125 in summer 2022

GCSE entries

The overall entry for GCSEs in summer 2022 has increased by 0.9% from 5,301,075 in summer 2021 to 5,349,250 in summer 2022. The overall entries for GCSEs have been slowly but steadily increasing for the past five years.

Table 1. GCSE entries from summer 2018 to summer 2022

Year group	Summer 2018	Summer 2019	Summer 2020	Summer 2021	Summer 2022
Year 10 and below	123,350	127,245	124,310	95,580	107,400
Year 11	4,619,275	4,657,115	4,756,135	4,847,140	4,928,640
Year 12 and above	393,870	401,485	401,300	358,350	313,210
All year groups	5,136,495	5,185,845	5,281,745	5,301,075	5,349,250

The majority of GCSE entries are from year 11 students. Entries from year 11 students are higher than at any time in the past 5 years. This is likely to be partially explained by a 4.1% increase in the size of the 16 year old cohort, which increased from 637,756 in 2021 to 664,025 in 2022 according to ONS population estimates. The increased number of entries from year 11 students is balanced by a decrease in the number of entries from students in year 12 and above.

The small increase of 0.9% for GCSE entries in summer 2022 is reflected in a rise in entries for both EBacc subjects and non-EBacc subjects.

Table 2. GCSE entries for EBacc and non-EBacc subjects from summer 2018 to summer 2022

Subject grouping	Summer 2018	Summer 2019	Summer 2020	Summer 2021	Summer 2022
EBacc entries	4,054,475	4,206,700	4,297,100	4,337,685	4,378,110
Non-EBacc entries	1,082,020	979,150	984,645	963,390	971,140
Percent EBacc entries	78.9%	81.1%	81.4%	81.8%	81.8%
Percent non-EBacc entries	21.1%	18.9%	18.6%	18.2%	18.2%

Change from previous year in GCSE entries for EBacc subjects

The overall entry for EBacc subjects in summer 2022 has increased by 0.9% from 4,337,685 in summer 2021 to 4,378,110 in summer 2022.

Please note that entry in combined science is double counted because combined science is the equivalent of 2 GCSE grades. Please also note that ancient languages includes classical subjects as well as ancient languages.

Table 3. Percentage change in EBacc entries in summer 2022 compared to summer 2021

Subject grouping	Entries in Summer 2021	Entries in Summer 2022	Percentage change in entries
Combined science	840,955	854,450	1.6%
Mathematics	758,755	749,390	-1.2%
English language	729,605	719,790	-1.3%
English literature	572,765	582,680	1.7%
Geography	268,180	279,205	4.1%
History	278,880	278,750	0%
Biology	171,835	174,605	1.6%
Chemistry	165,710	167,190	0.9%
Physics	164,330	166,550	1.4%
French	125,655	126,185	0.4%
Spanish	109,655	116,355	6.1%
Computing	77,245	79,135	2.4%
Other modern languages	25,225	36,310	44%
German	37,035	36,000	-2.8%
Ancient languages	11,860	11,510	-3%
Total	4,337,685	4,378,110	0.9%

There have been increases in entries for most EBacc subjects, particularly in combined science, geography, other modern languages, English literature and Spanish. The largest percentage increases were for other modern languages, Spanish and geography. The entries in other modern languages have increased after a 23% decrease in entry between summer 2021 and summer 2020, and are now around 10% higher than entries prior to summer 2020. Nearly all of this rise can be attributed to an increase in entry for students in year 11 and below.

There were decreases in entries for mathematics, English language, German and ancient languages. The decrease in entries for English language and mathematics is due to reduced entry for students in year 12 and above compared to summer 2021.

Entries in EBacc subjects over time and by year group

Entries for combined science, English literature, geography and Spanish have increased each year for the past five years.

Please note that entry in combined science is double counted because combined science is the equivalent of 2 GCSE grades. Please also note that ancient languages include classical subjects as well as ancient languages.

Table 4. Entries in EBacc subjects from summer 2018 to summer 2022

Subject	Summer 2018	Summer 2019	Summer 2020	Summer 2021	Summer 2022
Mathematics	715,775	742,245	757,235	758,755	749,390
English language	706,255	729,315	746,705	729,605	719,790
English literature	537,990	551,205	561,315	572,765	582,680
Combined science	744,185	786,830	820,270	840,955	854,450
Biology	167,075	167,525	166,635	171,835	174,605
Chemistry	160,110	160,980	159,760	165,710	167,190
Physics	158,295	159,555	158,395	164,330	166,550
Computing	72,360	78,080	76,180	77,245	79,135
Geography	244,925	253,125	256,805	268,180	279,205
History	248,040	264,680	275,910	278,880	278,750
French	120,605	125,700	125,770	125,655	126,185
German	43,260	42,175	41,320	37,035	36,000
Spanish	91,980	101,080	105,840	109,655	116,355
Other modern languages	31,850	32,035	32,755	25,225	36,310
Ancient languages	11,770	12,170	12,215	11,860	11,510

There are some slight changes to entry by year group in 2022 compared to previous years. In all subjects most entries are from candidates in year 11, but the proportion of entries from candidates in year 10 and below (“early entries”) in other modern languages is consistently higher than observed in other subjects. However, the proportion of early entries in other modern foreign languages in summer 2022 has increased compared to summer 2021. The proportion of entries from students in year 12 and above for English language and mathematics in summer 2022 is lower than at any point in the past five years.

Table 5. Percentage of candidates by year group in EBacc subjects from summer 2018 to summer 2022

Subject	Year group	Summer 2018	Summer 2019	Summer 2020	Summer 2021	Summer 2022
Ancient languages	Year 10 and below	9.4%	10%	9.1%	9%	8.3%
Ancient languages	Year 11	88.4%	88.1%	89.3%	89.4%	89.7%
Ancient languages	Year 12 and above	2.3%	1.9%	1.6%	1.6%	2%
Biology	Year 10 and below	0.6%	0.6%	0.8%	0.7%	0.9%
Biology	Year 11	96%	96.1%	96%	96.5%	96.3%
Biology	Year 12 and above	3.4%	3.3%	3.1%	2.8%	2.8%
Chemistry	Year 10 and below	0.5%	0.6%	0.6%	0.7%	0.6%
Chemistry	Year 11	98.1%	98%	97.9%	98.1%	98%
Chemistry	Year 12 and above	1.4%	1.4%	1.5%	1.3%	1.4%
Combined science	Year 10 and below	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
Combined science	Year 11	98.5%	98.6%	98.7%	98.7%	98.9%
Combined science	Year 12 and above	1.4%	1.4%	1.3%	1.1%	1%
Computing	Year 10 and below	2.6%	2%	1.9%	1.5%	1.7%
Computing	Year 11	96.6%	97.1%	97.2%	97.6%	97.4%
Computing	Year 12 and above	0.9%	0.9%	0.9%	0.9%	0.9%
English language	Year 10 and below	1.5%	1.2%	1%	0.7%	0.8%
English language	Year 11	74.8%	75.6%	76%	79.6%	82.5%
English language	Year 12 and above	23.6%	23.2%	23%	19.7%	16.6%
English literature	Year 10 and below	5.6%	5.4%	4.4%	3.7%	2.9%
English literature	Year 11	93.6%	93.9%	94.9%	95.7%	96.5%
English literature	Year 12 and above	0.8%	0.8%	0.7%	0.7%	0.6%
French	Year 10 and below	2%	2.2%	2%	1.7%	2.1%
French	Year 11	97.4%	97.2%	97.4%	97.8%	97.4%
French	Year 12 and above	0.6%	0.6%	0.6%	0.5%	0.5%
Geography	Year 10 and below	0.9%	0.8%	0.6%	0.6%	0.5%
Geography	Year 11	98.2%	98.4%	98.6%	98.7%	98.9%
Geography	Year 12 and above	0.9%	0.8%	0.7%	0.7%	0.6%
German	Year 10 and below	1.5%	2%	2.2%	1.5%	2.2%
German	Year 11	97.8%	97.4%	97.2%	98.1%	97.3%
German	Year 12 and above	0.6%	0.6%	0.5%	0.5%	0.5%
History	Year 10 and below	1%	0.9%	0.7%	0.5%	0.5%
History	Year 11	98.3%	98.4%	98.6%	98.9%	99%
History	Year 12 and above	0.7%	0.7%	0.6%	0.6%	0.5%
Mathematics	Year 10 and below	0.5%	0.5%	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%
Mathematics	Year 11	74.6%	74.4%	75.2%	76.7%	79.1%
Mathematics	Year 12 and above	24.9%	25.1%	24.5%	23%	20.6%
Other modern languages	Year 10 and below	35%	32.6%	34.9%	23.8%	31.5%
Other modern languages	Year 11	59.3%	62.8%	60.5%	71.6%	63.7%
Other modern languages	Year 12 and above	5.7%	4.6%	4.6%	4.6%	4.8%
Physics	Year 10 and below	0.5%	0.5%	0.4%	0.5%	0.4%
Physics	Year 11	98.3%	98.3%	98.3%	98.5%	98.5%
Physics	Year 12 and above	1.2%	1.2%	1.2%	1%	1.1%
Spanish	Year 10 and below	2.9%	3.2%	3.2%	2%	2.9%
Spanish	Year 11	96.1%	96%	96%	97.4%	96.5%
Spanish	Year 12 and above	1%	0.8%	0.8%	0.6%	0.6%

Change from previous year in GCSE entries for non-EBacc subjects

The overall entry for non-EBacc subjects in summer 2022 has increased by 0.8% from 963,390 in summer 2021 to 971,140 in summer 2022.

Table 6. Percentage change in non-EBacc entries in summer 2022 compared to summer 2021

Subject grouping	Entries in Summer 2021	Entries in Summer 2022	Percentage change in entries
Religious studies	239,680	243,875	1.7%
Art and design subjects	197,595	194,040	-1.8%
Business studies	95,610	100,990	5.6%
Design and technology	82,505	78,405	-5%
Physical education	71,425	71,215	-0.3%
Drama	56,860	53,790	-5.4%
Food preparation and nutrition	49,965	51,940	4%
Social science subjects	39,395	42,385	7.6%
Music	35,400	34,130	-3.6%
Media / film / TV studies	32,705	31,635	-3.3%
Citizenship studies	20,750	22,850	10.1%
Statistics	17,950	22,615	26%
Performing / expressive arts	8,780	8,245	-6.1%
Economics	6,500	6,805	4.6%
Classical subjects	3,540	3,595	1.6%
Other sciences	2,220	2,320	4.4%
Engineering	2,515	2,305	-8.3%
Total	963,390	971,140	0.8%

Just over half of non-EBacc subjects have had increases in entries, particularly business studies, statistics and religious studies. The largest percentage increases were for statistics, citizenship studies, social science subjects and business studies.

Entries for tiered GCSEs

In some subjects, there are two tiers of entry: foundation and higher. Entry to higher tier has decreased slightly in most tiered subjects in summer 2022 compared to summer 2021.

Table 7. Percentage of entries for higher tier from summer 2018 to summer 2021

Subject	Summer 2018	Summer 2019	Summer 2020	Summer 2021	Summer 2022
Biology	88%	84%	85%	88%	86%
Chemistry	90%	85%	87%	89%	86%
Combined science	45%	37%	38%	41%	40%
French	55%	52%	52%	56%	53%
German	63%	62%	60%	64%	62%
Mathematics	44%	41%	41%	43%	43%
Physics	90%	86%	87%	90%	88%
Spanish	57%	55%	53%	57%	53%
Statistics	First awarded in 2019	60%	56%	61%	58%

AS and A level entries

The overall entries for A level in summer 2022 have increased by 4.2% from 756,230 in summer 2021 to 788,125 in summer 2022. This is likely to be partially explained by a 2.4% increase in the size of the 18 year old cohort, which increased from 613,025 in 2021 to 628,023 in 2022 according to ONS population estimates.

The overall entries for AS in summer 2022 have increased by 9.9% from 58,300 in summer 2021 to 64,080 in summer 2022. This is the first increase in AS entries since the decoupling of AS and A levels as part of AS and A level reforms. This is likely to be partially explained by a 1.5% increase in the size of the 17 year old cohort, which increased from 628,023 in 2021 to 637,756 in 2022 according to ONS population estimates.

It is worth noting that entries for AS and A level in summer 2022 might be affected by the exceptional nature of awarding in summer 2020 and summer 2021.

Table 8. AS and A level entries from summer 2018 to summer 2022

Qualification	Summer 2018	Summer 2019	Summer 2020	Summer 2021	Summer 2022
AS	269,090	117,595	86,970	58,300	64,080
A level	759,670	745,585	731,855	756,230	788,125
Total	1,028,765	863,180	818,825	814,525	852,200

A level entries

Most A level subjects have increased in entry size in summer 2022 compared to summer 2021. Computing, design and technology, political studies, psychology, physical education and business studies show the biggest overall percentage increases with entries in these subjects increasing by more than 10% in summer 2022 compared to summer 2021. Entries in English literature decreased by 8.9%.

Please note that entries in ‘other subjects’ is the combination of subjects with fewer than 2,000 entries as well as those grouped as ‘all other subjects’ by JCQ.

Table 9. Percentage change in A level entries in summer 2022 compared to summer 2021

Subject grouping	Entries in Summer 2021	Entries in Summer 2022	Percentage change in entries
Mathematics	90,290	89,605	-0.8%
Psychology	68,315	76,265	11.6%
Biology	63,765	66,220	3.9%
Chemistry	55,485	54,865	-1.1%
Sociology	39,825	43,590	9.5%
History	41,585	42,885	3.1%
Art and design subjects	39,370	42,100	6.9%
Business studies	35,285	38,980	10.5%
Physics	37,560	36,770	-2.1%
Economics	32,700	35,760	9.3%
Geography	31,810	34,245	7.7%
English literature	36,135	32,910	-8.9%
Media / film / TV studies	19,025	20,050	5.4%
Political studies	17,065	19,145	12.2%
Religious studies	15,685	15,520	-1%
Computing	12,930	15,210	17.6%
Mathematics (further)	14,850	14,520	-2.2%
English	14,230	14,260	0.2%
Law	12,825	13,995	9.1%
Physical education	10,755	12,000	11.6%
Design and technology	8,340	9,725	16.6%
Other subjects	8,890	9,400	5.7%
Drama	8,670	8,985	3.6%
Spanish	8,465	8,640	2%
French	7,725	7,440	-3.7%
English language and literature	7,155	6,795	-5%
Other modern languages	5,315	5,385	1.3%
Music	5,045	5,305	5.2%
Classical subjects	4,600	4,875	6%
German	2,525	2,675	5.9%
Total	756,230	788,125	4.2%

Change in A level entries over time

Entries in psychology, business studies and sociology have increased each year from summer 2018 to summer 2022. Entries in English continues to decrease, but entries remain relatively stable in other high entry subjects.

Please note that English includes English language, English literature and English language and literature specifications.

Table 10. Entries in selected A level subjects from summer 2018 to summer 2022

Subject	Summer 2018	Summer 2019	Summer 2020	Summer 2021	Summer 2022
Art and design subjects	40,300	39,635	39,145	39,370	42,100
Biology	58,925	64,460	61,130	63,765	66,220
Business studies	30,155	30,820	33,260	35,285	38,980
Chemistry	50,830	55,615	53,435	55,485	54,865
English	67,865	58,870	60,275	57,515	53,965
History	44,900	47,455	41,120	41,585	42,885
Mathematics	90,955	86,185	89,730	90,290	89,605
Mathematics (further)	15,450	13,920	14,475	14,850	14,520
Modern foreign languages	18,540	18,585	18,645	18,715	18,750
Physics	35,255	36,420	35,740	37,560	36,770
Psychology	58,300	62,685	63,490	68,315	76,265
Sociology	33,420	36,295	36,965	39,825	43,590

AS entries

Entries in AS have increased in summer 2022 compared to summer 2021, with entries increasing by more than 10% in a large number of subjects.

Please note that entries in ‘other subjects’ is the combination of subjects with fewer than 2,000 entries as well as those grouped as ‘all other subjects’ by JCQ.

Table 11. Percentage change in AS entries in summer 2022 compared to summer 2021

Subject grouping	Entries in Summer 2021	Entries in Summer 2022	Percentage change in entries
Other subjects	15,660	15,235	-2.7%
Mathematics	6,955	8,865	27.4%
Psychology	5,820	6,735	15.7%
Biology	4,745	5,835	23%
Sociology	4,510	5,105	13.3%
Chemistry	3,950	4,900	24%
Mathematics (further)	4,175	3,730	-10.6%
Physics	2,810	3,215	14.5%
Business studies	2,710	3,170	17.1%
History	2,410	2,670	10.7%
Economics	1,870	2,620	40%
Art and design subjects	2,685	2,000	-25.4%
Total	58,300	64,080	9.9%

Entries by centre type

For GCSE, AS and A level, the majority of entries are from secondary non-selective, maintained centres.

Table 12. Number of entries by centre type for GCSE, AS and A level

CentreType	Number of entries at GCSE	Percentage of total entries at GCSE	Number of entries at AS	Percentage of total entries at AS	Number of entries at A level	Percentage of total entries at A level
Secondary non-selective, maintained	4,609,795	86%	33,840	53%	460,055	58%
Sixth Form and FE	237,570	4%	22,895	36%	173,990	22%
Independent	273,480	5%	4,440	7%	103,400	13%
Selective	117,045	2%	1,525	2%	33,625	4%
Other	111,365	2%	1,380	2%	17,055	2%

Background information

In this report, Ofqual presents data on the number of provisional entries for GCSEs, AS and A levels in England received by exam boards for the summer 2022 series.

Schools and colleges enter students with exam boards to take qualifications in the summer. The figures for entries can normally change up to the day of the exams. We collect provisional data at the same time every year, at a point when it should be reasonably complete. The figures presented here are the provisional figures as received by exam boards by 21 April 2022 and final entry numbers may be slightly different from these.

In this report, all figures for the number of entries are rounded to the nearest 5.

Background information accompanying this report includes factors which may have an impact upon the entries in summer 2022, as well as information on data collected for this release and definitions of important terms used in the report.

Data tables published along with this report give provisional entry data (rounded to the nearest 5) for different subjects broken down by year group for GCSE, AS and A levels.

User feedback

We welcome your feedback on publications. Should you have any comments on this statistical release and how to improve it to meet your needs please contact us at data.analytics@ofqual.gov.uk.

Head of profession: Nadir Zanini