Commentary: Boys outperform girls in achieving top grades

All in all, it is a good set of results. The grades are much more believable than they were in the days of continual rises.

They will be much more useful to universities, even if they are struggling to find as many ABB applicants as they would like to fill their places. Students will be able to receive their grades today without the cries of the past that they weren’t worth much because standards had dropped.

This year’s A-level results are a further sign that Ofqual has got to grips with the relentless inflation.

Top grades are down, mainly for girls. Boys have now moved well ahead at the highest level.

This is linked to the subjects they take, with boys concentrated in maths and the sciences. The overall pass rate is up, showing that the trend for the less academic to switch out of A-levels continues. Entries overall fell this year.

Serious subjects such as maths, English and the sciences, though, had increased numbers, probably in response to the signals from the Government and universities that some A-levels matter much more than others. Some of the newer, sexier-sounding subjects, such as media studies, drama and the performing arts, have taken big hits. General studies has had its day, down by nearly half over the past decade.

But worryingly languages, except Spanish, are down again, showing the disinclination of the Brits to speak to other people in their own tongues. The bigger intakes to maths and the sciences are accompanied by drops in top grades, probably reflecting a slightly broader entry. But they are still among the subjects with the highest percentages of A grades.

Alan Smithers is Director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham