Yes, Covid played a big part in this year’s fall in A-level grades – but so did poverty | Nadeine Asbali

After the exam fiascos of the past few years, many A-level students today will have opened their results to crushing, if somewhat predictable, disappointment. It has been the biggest drop in grades in England on record, as a result of the government’s policy to return to pre-pandemic grading.

The proportion of A*-A grades fell from 35.9% in 2022 to 26.5%. The drop was steepest in England – in Wales and Northern Ireland, examiners took into…