Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Black British students achieved 3 'A' grades or higher in A Levels in each of the last eight years.

The number of black students achieving[1] three A*-A grades at A level[2], split by ethnic group, from 2010/11 – 2016/17[3] are as follows:

Figures for 2009/10 are not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

[1] Based on students at the end of their 16-18 study.

[2] Based on students who entered for at least 1 A level or applied A level qualification. Where qualifications taken by a student are in the same subject area and similar in content, ‘discounting’ rules have been applied to avoid double counting qualifications.

[3] Figures are based on final data, except for 2016/17 which is based on revised data.

[4] The methodology through which student’s ethnicity is identified was changed in 2016/17. Up to 2015/16 a student’s ethnicity was taken from their census record three years prior to the academic year the figures are reported for. In 2016/17 a student’s ethnicity is taken from the census record of their final year of key stage 4 study (normally, three years prior). Due to this change, 2016/17 figures can not be compared to earlier years.