A levels are the best-known Level 3 qualification in England — and the one this Explorer measures most completely.
An Advanced GCE, universally called an A level, is a Level 3 academic qualification normally studied over two years from age 16. Most students take three, sometimes four. It is graded A* to E, with U for unclassified.
A levels are linear: assessment comes at the end of the course rather than in modules. AS level is a separate, smaller qualification that no longer contributes to the A level grade.
This Explorer covers GCE A level only. AS level entries are in the DfE source but excluded from these figures.
2,626 institutions in England recorded A level entries in 2024/25, across 787,688 entries and 64 distinct subjects. Every A level carries an A-level equivalent size of exactly 1, so for this family raw entries and A-level equivalents are identical.
An institution appears against a subject if it recorded one or more entries. The Explorer reports how many institutions did so, what share of A-level institutions that represents, and the distribution of entry cohort sizes — because a subject in 500 institutions with a median cohort of 7 is a very different thing from the same subject with a median of 35.
A levels are not the whole of post-16 study. Around a third of the qualification volume covered by this Explorer sits in Applied General, Tech Level and other academic qualifications, and AS level and Level 2 Technical Certificates sit outside it altogether. T Levels are outside the entry data entirely and have their own tab.
Last checked 17 August 2026. Observed provision is based on recorded exam entries. An institution with no recorded entries in a subject may still have offered it — see what subject provision means.