GCSE Results 2017: two-thirds of grade 9s awarded to girls

Two-thirds of girls have received the highest grade of 9 in the new, tougher GCSEs.

Nearly 51,000 grade 9s were given across the three reformed subjects, maths, English literature and English language and around 30,000 were given to girls.

Over 2,000 pupils in England were awarded a grade 9 in all three of the subjects, which is less than a third of the 6,500 straight A*s candidates from last year, according to Datalab.

In maths, nearly 20,000 entries scored a 9 and over 31,000 achieved this grade in the two English GCSEs combined.

However, overall, GCSE pass rates have fallen this year following the exam reforms.

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