Which regions in England did best on A-level results day?

With results for Level 3 qualifications released today, a Sky News Data & Forensics unit analysis shows growing regional attainment gaps in A-levels that experts say ultimately tie to deprivation.

Across the country, the proportion of students receiving top grades, counted as A or A*, grew to 28.3%, the highest since 2002 excluding pandemic years. Nonetheless, some regions failed to keep pace with the rest of the country.

The North East of England, which ranked last in this year's results, saw the proportion of its students achieving top grades drop by a percentage point. Schools North East, which represents over 1,150 schools, said these results show "the North East's educational challenge is not about standards in our schools, but about structural inequalities that hold back students' opportunities".

Meanwhile, London remained the top-ranked region this year. The proportion of its students with top grades increased by 0.7 percentage points.

Chris Paterson, co-chief executive of the educational charity Education Endowment Foundation, said: "The gap in outcomes between regions driven by relative levels of affluence and deprivation remains striking and, looks from the data today, to actually have widened." Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson earlier this week decried the "scandal" of relatively poor achievement rates recorded among white working class children and announced a government white paper this autumn to address the issue. "Put simply, these children have been betrayed," said Ms Phillipson.

Top grades more likely at private schools Significant gaps also exist between students at state-funded versus fee-paying schools. Nearly half of A-level students at private schools earned top grades compared with 25.4% of students at state-funded schools.

Mr Paterson explained that generally more affluent students at private schools can mean access to enhanced opportunities such as tutoring. Private schools also tend to have better teacher retention and recruitment rates than their state-funded counterparts.

Within-region breakdown shows stark inequalities While high-level data has shown growing achievement gaps between regions of England, a breakdown by county reveals even further disparities. Among all English counties, Rutland recorded the highest percentage, or 40%, of students receiving A or A*.

This is despite its region, the East Midlands, overall ranking second lowest for proportion of students achieving top grades. The Isle of Wight recorded the lowest percentage of high achievers at 15.8%.

Yet, its region, the South East, was overall second-best for top grades, with 31.2% of its students receiving A or A* - nearly twice as much. These differences are not "about ability between different children in those different regions.