Students are receiving the worst A-level results in four years today with thousands left scrambling for their place in university through clearing.

Marks this year returned to 2019 levels after a brief period of relaxation due to the coronavirus pandemic. The number of entries awarded an A or A* has, as a result, plunged from 36.4 percent last year to 27.2 percent today — a drop of almost 10 percent and 73,000 grades.

Those clinching a pass mark above an E also nose-dived to 97.3 per cent from 98.4 per cent in 2022, the lowest pass rate since 2008.

Some 19,000 teenagers have been rejected from their top two universities, but Education Secretary Gillian Keegan was this morning keen to downplay the importance of A-level grades in the long run.

READ MORE A-level results plummet for second year in row as students punished by lockdown

As the overall proportion of those performing well has fallen, Express.co.uk takes a look at five of the counties with the highest proportion of E grades and above — the lowest possible result beyond an outright fail — relevant to their student population sizes.

Rutland

The East Midlands county comes out on top for the highest proportion of those who scored an E grade and above — some 99.4 percent of all students just about scraping by.

By comparison, 13.1 percent of the cohort achieved an A*, the highest anywhere in the country beating the likes of Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

Herefordshire

Another Midlands county, this time in the West, Herefordshire saw 99 percent of its teenagers sitting A-levels score an E or above, while a further 7.1 percent received an A*

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Surrey

Many may be shocked by the number of low performers in one of the country’s ‘posh’ Home Counties, but 98.6 percent of students achieved just an E or above in Surrey.

It did, however, come fourth in the entire country, with 11.9 percent of students getting an A*.

East Sussex

In another county considered to be one of the UK’s poshest, 98.3 percent of teens scored an E and above, although the county came fifth in the country for those who achieved an A* with 11.7 percent of the cohort.

Hertfordshire

Exactly 98.1 percent in Hertfordshire, another wealthy county just north of London, scored an E grade or above. Another 10.8 percent managed to get an A*.

This year, 75.4 per cent of grades were C and above, down on 82.1 per cent last year and slightly below 75.5 per cent in 2019.

The data show that the regional attainment gap in England alone has widened, with experts noting this is likely down to the impact of COVID-19 on children in different areas.

In 2019, 23 per cent of grades in the northeast were A and above, a figure that is now at 22 percent. It means the region is now the lowest attaining in the country.

By contrast, in London, top grades were up by 3.1 percent from 26.9 percent in 2019 to 30 percent this year.

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