Commenting on level 2 results day Dr Richard Boffey, Head of AccessHE at London Higher said:
“London Higher congratulates all students receiving their level 2 results today. Their achievements must be set in the context of significant disruption to their education during and since the Covid-19 pandemic, which makes the high levels of top grades awarded in London this year all the more impressive.
As with last week’s level 3 results, the data today shows London pulling away from other English regions when it comes to the highest levels of attainment. With academic performance in secondary school serving as a key determinant of progression to higher education, the results in London should be welcomed as an encouraging sign that many students in the capital will be able to access university study and all the benefits this entails.
However, beyond the positive headline results lie more nuanced regional attainment patterns. We can expect to learn more about how different groups of London students have performed in their level 2 and 3 examinations over the coming months as the Clearing cycle comes to a close and Ofqual publishes its equalities analyses. This will tell us more about the differential impact of the pandemic and indicate whether existing attainment gaps have changed relative to previous years. The information will be of critical importance to London’s higher education sector as it considers how and where to focus a new phase of widening access work, including scaled-up efforts to support pre-16 attainment raising, and we will publish further results analysis for London Higher members in the autumn.”
