Research edition · Comparison · City of London · NLCS
How do City of London and NLCS compare on A-level grades at A*?
Comparison · A-level grades at A* · 2025–2026. Edition of 28 Sep 2026.
The answer · Too few shared years to call
We can compare City of London and NLCS on this measure in only two years: 2025 (City of London 39%, NLCS 54.3%) and 2026 (City of London 42%, NLCS 49.5%). Two years can’t show a pattern.
The figures
Not charted: fewer than 3 comparable years for any of these schools, too few to draw a line. The figures: City of London (2025: 39%; 2026: 42%); NLCS (2025: 54.3%; 2026: 49.5%).
| Year | City of London (%) | NLCS (%) | Gap (points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 39 | 54.3 | −15.3 |
| 2026 | 42 | 49.5 | −7.5 |
Figures to two decimal places at most. A figure known only within the school’s rounding is shown as a range, never as its lower end.
Read this with the answer
- A-level-only series. IB, Pre-U, mixed qualifications and school-defined combined definitions are excluded. CAG/TAG years 2020–21 are excluded by default; unresolved competing values are retained in the evidence record but omitted here.
- Published results describe different groups of pupils, chosen in different ways. They can’t show the effect of attending a school, or what one pupil would achieve.
- Only the years both schools can be compared on are used: 2025 and 2026. A missing or excluded year is not a zero result.
- Fewer than five shared years, which is too few for the period check: it needs five.
- These figures carry the record’s existing source checks, which are kept apart from background links. This edition didn’t reopen every original publication.
- Historical results: the latest shared year is 2026. 2026 counts only where a figure passes this measure’s usual rules.
4 of the 4 recorded figures behind this comparison have an exact source check for that field and year; 0 are recorded or calculated figures with their support set out in Record details. This is not a fresh check of every source.
With research access
What the study means, and what to ask next
Research access adds what the comparison shows once it is read year by year, whether the answer holds when the period changes, and the questions to take to each school. It is added to your briefing with its sources, dates and qualifications.
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Where the figures come from
Each record gives the full definition, the documents it came from and what we checked.
City of London School · 2025 · A-level · published record · 2025 · A-level
Checked against the original: 10 figures, including A* count, A* and A*–A.
North London Collegiate School · 2025 · A-level · published record · 2025 · A-level
Checked against the original: A* and A*–A.
City of London School · 2026 · A-level · published record · 2026 · A-level
Checked against the original: A*, A*–A and A*–B.
North London Collegiate School · 2026 · A-level · published record · 2026 · A-level
Checked against the original: A*, A*–A and A*–B.