THIS year's A-level results reveal the widening gap between the least and most well-off young people during the pandemic, experts, teaching unions and Labour warned today.

In the first year since the return to pre-pandemic marking, the disparities between those accepted into university are now at levels last seen a decade ago.

Students in the north fell further behind those in London and south-east England and the grade gap between private and comprehensive also grew compared with 2019.

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of both the Sutton Trust and the Education Endowment Foundation, said: “The overall picture today is one of growing disparity between the most and least well-off young people.

“There are significant regional differences in attainment, with top grades falling most in the north-east while they have increased most in London and the south-east, in line with patterns of regional prosperity.

“Likewise, the gap in those achieving top grades has widened between those at independent and state schools.”

Analysis showed students getting the top A/A* grades in north-east England fell from 23 in 2019 to 22 per cent this year — while the rate in the south-east rose from 28.3 to 30.3 per cent.

Yorkshire and the Humber’s figure also dropped slightly to 23 per cent, while London’s shot up by 3.1 to 30 per cent over the period.

The gap between state and private schools has also widened since 2019, with A*/A grades at independent schools up by almost three percentage points to 47.4 per cent.

Academies and comprehensives meanwhile grew by less than 1.5 percentage points, at 25.4 and 22 per cent respectively. Further Education colleges dropped by more than two percentage points to 14.2 per cent.

Sam Tuckett, associate director at the Education Policy Institute, suggested the combined impact of school closures, absences and suitability of post-16 courses choices based on inflated 2021 GCSE results, likely played into the variation in this year’s A-level results.

He said: “Their GCSE years were disrupted by school closures, and their GCSE grades were teacher assessed, meaning most will not have sat a public exam prior to this summer. 

“Furthermore, student absences were rife, with added disruption stemming from industrial action as unions strove to reach a pay deal.

“These issues appear to have had unequal impacts on different students.”

Ucas figures showed the number of students accepted on to UK degree courses fell year-on-year but was higher than in 2019, with  79 per cent of 18-year-old UK applicants getting a place at their first choice university or college — up from 74 per cent four years ago.

Excluding the pandemic years, the gap in higher education participation between the most under-represented areas and the least is at the worst levels since 2013 — now at 24.4 percentage points, up from the 23pp gap in 2019.

The toll of the cost-of-living crisis could also be seen in a 60 per cent rise in students eligible for free school meals being accepted into universities.

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, warned: “The efforts of parents, students and teachers are not matched by the quality of the exam system. 

“The decision to return abruptly to pre-pandemic grading risks damaging the future of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, whose lives and learning have already been hit hard by the pandemic.”

NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach added: “This year’s results are a reflection of the inevitable fluctuation in grades caused by the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The predictable outcome is that the most disadvantaged students have been particularly let down.”

Shadow schools minister Stephen Morgan accused the Conservatives of “overseeing the managed decline of education across the north of England and Midlands.”

The University and College Union meanwhile called on employers to settle the current university dispute so as not to disrupt students even further.