GCE A-Level: History

Tim Loughton
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of pupils who sat A-level history at mainstream maintained schools gained an A to E grade in that subject in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight
The information requested can be found in the table:

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|                                         |Number|Percentage|
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|1997                                     |16,713|86.6      |
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|1998                                     |16,710|87.2      |
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|1999                                     |16,541|87.9      |
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|2000                                     |16,617|88.9      |
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|2001                                     |17,034|88.7      |
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|2002                                     |20,159|97.1      |
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|2003                                     |20,903|97.9      |
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|2004                                     |21,987|98.1      |
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|2005                                     |22,767|98.1      |
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|2006                                     |23,723|98.1      |
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|2007                                     |23,826|98.4      |
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|2008                                     |24,811|98.9      |
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|Source:Achievement and Attainment Tables.|      |          |
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The jump in the pass rate in 2002 is partly due to the new unitised A-level exams which saw the first cohort taking AS courses.