More than one in five entries given top grade as boys close gap on girls

Traditional academic subjects made a comeback yesterday as exam boards announced record A-level results for the 25th year in succession.

The take-up of maths, science subjects and modern foreign languages all increased, with headteachers claiming that it meant pupils were now choosing their subject options with a view to future employment prospects.

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The results showed that - for the first time - more than one in four scripts were awarded an A grade.

The percentage awarded top grade passes rose 1.2 percentage points to 25.3 per cent - fuelling concerns from university admissions officers that it was becoming even more difficult to select the brightest candidates for popular oversubscribed courses. In addition, the overall pass rate also went up by 0.3 per cent to 96.9 per cent - another record figure.

Boys also narrowed the gender gap for the fifth year in succession, falling 1.2 per cent behind the girls in the overall pass rate, a 0.1 percentage point reduction on the previous year.

Girls still outperformed boys in every subject except maths and modern foreign languages, and remained 2.6 percentage points ahead with 26.5 per cent being awarded A-grade passes compared to 23.9 per cent of boys.

John Dunford, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders - the union which represents secondary school headteachers - said the gap could be being reduced because the exam was becoming more "boy friendly" with a return to a bigger focus on end-of-year exams. "Coursework was considered more favourable to the girls," he added.

It was in the pupils' choice of subject options, though, that the most interesting patterns emerged.

Figures showed that maths entries had increased again for the fourth year in succession with further maths increasing the number of entries by 8.3 percentage points and maths itself by 7.3 percentage points.

The rise meant that, for the first time in years, English and maths were the two most popular subject options for teenagers.

In addition, the take-up of Spanish increased by 6.6 percentage points and German by 1.6 percentage points. However, French was still in decline - going down by 1.2 percentage points.

In the sciences, there were increases in the popularity of chemistry and physics, although this was partially offset by a slight decrease in biology.

The subject which showed the biggest percentage rise in popularity was critical thinking, where take-up rose by 59.24 percentage points. The exam, only introduced last year, is designed to tests students' ability to develop an argument and includes questions such as: "Give the pros and cons of making the MMR vaccination compulsory." University admissions staff believe it could be crucial in helping them to assess young people's talents.

Dr Dunford said he was heartened that the trend towards more traditional subject options was supported by figures for AS levels - the exam worth half an A-level taken by youngsters at the end of the first year of the sixth form.

That, he argued, indicated the rise would continue into next year. The only setback to this trend, though, was in geography - which fell as a popular option from ninth to tenth place and was overtaken by media, film and TV studies. Dr Mike Creswell, the director general of the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, Britain's biggest exams board, said geography numbers had been falling for five years to a point where only 3.93 per cent of entries were in the subject. This was down from 4.9 per cent in 2002.

Meanwhile, Jim Knight, the Schools minister, rejected a demand from the Liberal Democrats for an inquiry into the examination system, adding that there had been one three years ago. He said it was "really a shame" that the debate could not focus upon the students' successes.

Carol Whitty, deputy general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "At this time of year there are always those who seek to detract from our young people's achievements."