London seen some of the biggest GCSE scores improvement in UK: national study
New research has revealed England’s areas that have seen the biggest drop in GCSE results since lockdown, with the Cheshire area of Halton coming out on top.
The study by Teachers To Your Home, which provides qualified teachers for tuition, analysed Department for Education data from 2018/19 to 2023/24 to find the areas that have seen the biggest drop in Attainment 8 average scores since before lockdown. Attainment 8 is a measure of a pupil’s average achievement across their best eight GCSE-level qualifications, with a maximum score of 90.
The Cheshire area of Halton saw an extensive 12.1% drop in Attainment 8 scores. In the 2018/19 school year, the average sat at 45.4, dropping to 39.9 in 2023/24.
Wirral witnessed the second-largest decline, with GCSE scores falling 8.3% since 2018/19, falling from 48.4 to 44.4.
Coming in third is Blackpool with a drop of 7.9%. Attainment 8 scores dropped from 37.8 on average in 2018/19 to 34.8 in 2023/24.
Fourth place goes to Stoke-on-Trent, which saw a drop of 7.5%. Attainment 8 scores sat at 42.8 on average in 2018/19, falling to 39.6 in 2023/24.
Rounding out the top five is North Lincolnshire. Attainment 8 scores went from 44.6 in 2018/19 to 41.5 in 2023/24, a drop of 7%.
The 10 local authorities with the biggest drop in GCSE scores since 2018/19
Rank
Local authority
2018/19
2023/24
2018/19 to 2023/24 change
Percentage change
1
Halton
45.4
39.9
-5.5
-12.1
2
Wirral
48.4
44.4
-4.0
-8.3
3
Blackpool
37.8
34.8
-3.0
-7.9
4
Stoke-on-Trent
42.8
39.6
-3.2
-7.5
5
North Lincolnshire
44.6
41.5
-3.1
-7.0
6
Southampton
44.1
41.3
-2.8
-6.3
7
Telford and Wrekin
46.2
43.3
-2.9
-6.3
8
Shropshire
46.2
43.5
-2.7
-5.8
9
Sefton
44.2
41.7
-2.5
-5.7
10
Central Bedfordshire
44.8
42.3
-2.5
-5.6
Salford topped the list of most improved areas with a 5.9% increase in scores from 2018/19 to 2023/24, followed by Plymouth with 5.7% and Wandsworth with 5.5%.
