GCSE results 2025

 

Key headlines

  • Total number of GCSEs sat dropped by 0.4%, with STEM subjects seeing a larger drop of 0.6% overall.
  • However, grades have remained stable in STEM subjects, with a slight increase in young people achieving 7/A and above (23%) and 4/C and above this year (70.5%).
  • And more positively, there’s continued success for girls as they outperform boys in the majority of STEM subjects, achieving more top grades again in 2025.
  • Statistics, again, sees the highest growth in participation overall (up 9.5%), with more girls than ever sitting the exam with an 11.5% increase in female participation.
  • Biology, Chemistry and Physics saw the largest decrease in participation, down 5.8%, 6% and 6.4% overall respectively. This gap widens when specifically looking at girls whose participation in Biology dropped 6%, in Chemistry dropped 6.3% and in Physics dropped 6.8%.
  • The decrease in participation for girls continues across most other optional GCSE subjects too with Design and Technology and Engineering seeing the biggest declines.

 

Overview of STEM subject GCSEs

Due to a decrease in the overall population of 16-year-olds, we’ve seen a decrease in the number of young people participating in STEM GCSE subjects in 2025. Female participation has dropped slightly less (0.6%) than male participation (0.7%) However girls continue to make up 47.8% of STEM GCSE entries, giving us near gender parity.

Only four of the top ten most popular GCSE subjects saw an increase in participation this year – two of which were Science: Double Award (up 0.9%) and Mathematics (up 1.7%). However, Chemistry and Biology saw the greatest decline in participation down 6% and 5.8% respectively.

After seeing more girls sitting GCSEs in Computing and Design and Technology in 2024, both declined this year with girls making up just 22.6% and 30.2% of the overall cohorts. This shows us we are a long way of gender parity in optional subjects.

Engineering also saw a 12.2% decrease for girls, but overall female representation increased to 17.4% due to a much larger decrease participation for boys.

Whilst many subjects saw a decline, it was good news for Statistics GCSE as it was once again the largest growing subject, this year seeing a 9.5% increase in overall participation and an 11.5% increase in female participation. More girls sat Maths (up 1.7%) and Construction (up 14.1%) GCSEs this year too.

Girls have outperformed boys again in achieving top grades (7/A and up) in the majority of core-STEM subjects but still lag behind in key subjects such as Maths and Physics.

Core STEM subjects - GCSE results 2025: 2,654,672 total entrants. Female down 0.6%, male down 0.7%

Several STEM subjects are compulsory for all students to sit at GCSE level, this includes mathematics and sciences (biology, chemistry and physics). Rather than looking at participation rates in these subjects, we’ll focus on how girls and boys performed in terms of achieving top grades. 

 

Biology GCSE

Girls continue to achieve more top grades (7/A and above) in Biology GCSE than boys, however the performance gap is closing with boys seeing 2% jump up to 41.8%, whilst girls improved by 0.5% up to 45.1%.

9-4 (A*- C) grades are nearly equal for girls and boys, as girls remain stable at 89.5% and boys improve slightly up to 89.2% this year.

Chemistry GCSE

Grades in Chemistry GCSE continue to improve as it stays firmly as the best science subject area for girls in 2025. 46.3% of girls achieved 7/A or higher and 91.4% were awarded a 4/C or above. Whilst more top grades were achieved by girls (46.3% versus 45.8% for boys), a slightly larger improvement for boys was seen with 91.5% of them awarded 4/C and above.

Physics GCSE

Girls have continued their improvement in Physics GCSE with 90.2% achieving a 4/C or above. However, boys still outperform them and saw much greater improvements in grades this year with 48.4% of boys (up from 46.9%) achieving top grades (7/A and above) compared to 41.8% (up from 41.3%) of girls.

Science Double Award GCSE 

Participation and grades remain largely unchanged for Science: Double Award GCSE. Boys had a greater improvement in grades, but girls continue to outperform them with 10% of girls achieving top grades (7/A and above) and 59.1% getting a 4/C or higher.

Maths GCSE and Maths (Additional) GCSE

Top grades in Maths GCSE dropped again for girls, now at 15.2% (down from 15.8%). The overall percentage of top grades 7/A and above (16.6%) and overall pass rate 4/C and above (58.3%) has also dropped this year and sits significantly behind pass rates and top grades compared to other STEM subjects.

However, Maths (Additional) GCSE paints a very different picture with more top grades (7/A and above) being achieved by girls up to 62.4% compared to 57.2% of boys, and 4/C and above grades seeing a similar improvement up to 96.2% compared to 93.9% of boys.

There was however a drop in participation for girls taking Maths (Additional) as the gender gap widens slightly as girls make up 46% of the cohort.

 

Computing GCSE

Whilst computing is a mandatory subject in the national curriculum up until the age of 16, computing isn’t a compulsory GCSE subject. Entries into Computing GCSE were down across the board, but even fewer boys opted-in this year which resulted in girls making up 22.6% of the cohort this year, despite a 1.5% decrease in the number of girls picking the subject.

Engineering GCSE

Engineering is still one of the least studied GCSEs and saw an 18% decrease in entries this year. Due to a more significant decrease in boys choosing Engineering GCSE this year, girls made up 17.4% of the cohort in 2025, this is a welcomed increase after female participation dropped in 2024.

Top grades for girls dropped in Engineering GCSE this year down to 27.6% from 32% in 2024, however they still significantly outperform boys across top grades and 76.1% of girls achieved 4/C and above compared to 58.4% of boys.

 

Design and Technology GCSE  

Whilst Design and Technology saw a decline in participation, most noticeably amongst girls which dropped to 30.2% down from 31.2% in 2024, grades improved across the board.

Despite the gender gap widening, girls continue to perform better with 33.2% achieving top grades (7/A and above) compared to 18.5% of boys, and 77.9% of girls achieving 9-4 (A*-C) compared to 62.5% of boys.

 

Statistics GCSE 

Statistics continues to see a healthy growth in participation, again with the highest increase this year – up 9.5% overall and 11.5% when specifically looking at female participation.

Whilst boys still outperform girls in statistics, girls have closed the gap in the number of 4/C grades achieved to 70.7% compared to 71.4% of boys.

Construction GCSE

Construction GCSE continues to see low numbers in participation, whilst more girls are picking it year on year there are still fewer than 1500 student studying the GCSE across the UK. Girls make up 14.2% of the cohort this year and outperform boys across all grades, most significantly 47.9% of girls achieve top grades (7/A and above) compared to just 27.3% of boys. These are both significant improvements compared to last year’s results, a step in the right direction.

 

What does this all mean?

You can read more about what the GCSE and A level results mean for the STEM sector in our full results day commentary here.

 

About WISE

At WISE, our purpose is to enable the STEM sector to create workplaces where women are fully represented, supported and empowered to thrive. We believe in the power of collaboration to ensure STEM is an inclusive and representative sector for all. We believe when diversity of thought is embraced, innovation thrives, and we can bridge the skills gap to drive progress across the sector.

Find out more about how you can work with WISE on our website or email us at wise@theiet.org.

 

Media enquiries

A press release has been published by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, which WISE is a subsidiary of. Working together on today’s results’ insight, please visit the IET’s media hub to read this: Press releases 2025 (July – September). For press enquiries, please contact Rebecca Gillick, External Communications & PR Lead via rgillick@theiet.org.