Students celebrate as they keep Islington above national averages for exam results

Provisional results show improvement on previous years and put Islington above the national average:

• 31.2% of A level grades were A*-A, almost 3 percentage points higher than the national average, and 85.6% were A*-C, a remarkable 7.5 percentage points above the national average.
• Islington students also outperformed the England average in Vocational and Tech levels, with a 100% pass rate and 21.1% of entries achieving a "starred Distinction" top grade, compared with the national average of 13%.
• At GCSE, 27.8% of results were grade 7 or above compared to 23.1% nationally, widening the gap by 1.2 percentage points on 2025. The proportion of results at grade 5 or above was 56.9% for English and 54.2% for maths, both above the national average.

The Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Islington made special visits to schools on results days, alongside Council Leader, Cllr Una O’Halloran, and Executive Member for Children, Young People and Families, Cllr Sheila Chapman.

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School student Lara picked up her GCSE results last week and is set to study politics, physics and philosophy at A level. She said: “My goal in life is to address the injustices in the defence sector and stop wars and genocides.”

At St Aloysius’ RC College, Chrishna was their top-achieving student with 10 grade 9s. He is going to study maths, further maths, physics, and computer science at Woodhouse College and has a career in software engineering in his sights.

He said he wanted to continue studying maths “to be able to understand those impossible questions you always see. I want to be one of those who can say, ‘Oh, this is hard. I can do it.’ That's one of my motivations.”

A week earlier, students were picking up A level, vocational and technical course results. At Central Foundation Boys’ School, Lara was accepted by Southampton University to study maths after achieving A* grades in chemistry, maths and further maths and an A in history. “At about 8am I logged onto the UCAS website. I saw that I got in, and for the first time that morning, I could breathe!” she said.

Meanwhile, classmate Jaydn will return to the school in September having landed a role there as a science technician. He said: “I've been here eight years of my life and I know the staff members, the people here are great, so I’d say it's a good place to start work.”

Sameera got a triple starred distinction in business marketing and digital media and is now weighing up whether to do a financial services apprenticeship or go into construction. “They’re both really big passions of mine,” she said. “Not many people know about the construction industry. I did work experience from this school as a quantity surveyor, and I really enjoyed my time. Construction is a very male-dominated industry, and you don't see many people like me in that space, and I want to be that change.”

Cllr Chapman, who met students at St Aloysius’ RC College on GCSE results day, said: “I want to congratulate every one of our students who got their grades over the past couple of weeks. These fantastic results are testament to your hard work and dedication. It was great to share in the excitement and celebrations and I’ve heard some really inspiring stories. Huge thanks also to the tireless work of parents and caregivers, teachers and school support staff who together have helped our young people achieve these results. We’re determined to help all our young people become the best they can be, and I’d urge anyone who is unsure of their next steps to reach out to one of our specialist Progress Team advisors.”

For any young people deciding on their next steps, specialists from the council’s Progress Team are available to help – by email at progress@islington.gov.uk and by phone on 020 7527 7031. The Progress Team are also available in-person at drop-in sessions and have organised two dedicated events as part of September’s Careers Week. Both events are completely free and no appointments are needed.