Responding to today's new analysis of this year's A level and VTQ results, Sarah Hannafin, head of policy at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“It is vital that everyone remembers that we cannot compare this year’s results with those from previous years. The student cohort, the context and the approach to grading has been different every year since 2019 so simplistic comparisons are unhelpful and will not tell the full story of the experiences of students or their schools and colleges.

"But, at a national level, it is striking how similar the gap in attainment between A level students from better off and more disadvantaged backgrounds remains.

“The disruption caused by Covid presented the government with a golden opportunity not only to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on young people’s learning, but also to show real ambition in attempting to close this worrying and stubborn attainment gap.

“However, ministers have failed to grasp the nettle and offer schools and colleges anything like the resources needed. The government’s failure to outline a long-term plan for the National Tutoring Programme, for which subsidies end next year, inspires little confidence that this will change any time soon.

“Services like social care and mental health support for young people have also been hugely under-funded over the last decade, and where issues in their lives are not identified and addressed this also affects their learning.

"All this must change if the government is serious about closing the disadvantage gap.”