Home educated and/or self-studying, or teaching in mainstream education and wondering how A Level subject grade distributions compare between Awarding Organisation (AO) specifications? Curious as to know which AO subject specification is the market leader in term of entries entered?
If so, arc exams have produced this tabulation that might be of interest. It aggregates published AO provisional grades for ‘high volume’ A Level subject examinations held in Summer 2024. 18 subjects in total, covering 72 specifications offered by AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR and Eduqas. As well as detailing cumulative grade distributions for each specification, it also shows the number of candidate entries.
There are some stark differences between AO subject grade distributions. Across the subjects shown, there is a spread of 1.1 and 14.4 percentage points between the specification with the highest A*/A attainment versus that with the lowest. For example, 52.7% of candidates sitting OCRs spec H240 (Mathematics A) achieved an A*/A grade, compared to just 41.1% achieving an A*/A grade for Pearson Edexcel’s market leading Mathematics spec, 9MA0.
Similarly, significant grade variances also exist where an AO offers two specifications for the same subject! For example, 32.1% of candidates entered for Pearson Edexcel’s spec 9EC0 (Economics A) achieved an A*/A grade, compared to only 21% achieving an A*/A grade for spec 9EB0 (Economics B), albeit the latter recorded far fewer entries.
Of course, subject grade comparisons between AOs is just one of many factors to consider when deciding which specification to study. Examination entry fees (another blog to follow on those shortly), market share and specification content will be others. Nevertheless, we hope the data presented here gives you food for thought and an insight into A Level subject activity.
Of the 18 subjects shown, AQA are market leaders in 10, Pearson Edexcel in 5 and OCR in 3. This is reflected in overall Summer 2024 A Level market share, all subjects, as illustrated below.
AO market share this Summer almost mirrors that of Summer 2020. AQA and Eduqas have witnessed a decline of 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively, whilst OCR has remained static and Pearson Edexcel have increased their market share by 0.6%.