Research edition · Comparison · SPGS · Downe House
How do SPGS and Downe House compare on A-level grades at A*?
Comparison · A-level grades at A* · 2023, 2025–2026. Edition of 28 Sep 2026.
The answer · Holds up
Over the 3 years we can compare (2023, 2025, 2026), SPGS is ahead by a typical 36.4 points; the one year range we can test agrees.
The figures
- SPGS
- Downe House
Each school against the same scale and years.
Exam eras: 2023–25; 2026. The rule beneath the axis marks exam conditions, not schools.
A break in a line means a year has no comparable figure; nothing is estimated. A hollow marker is a provisional figure the school may revise. The figures behind the chart are listed below.
| Year | SPGS (%) | Downe House (%) | Gap (points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 55.1 | 27 | 28.1 |
| 2025 | 66.8 | 22 | 44.8 |
| 2026 | 58.4 | 22 | 36.4 |
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: 2023, 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.
5 of the 6 recorded figures behind this comparison have an exact source check for that field and year; 1 is a recorded or calculated figure with its 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.
Research access isn’t on sale yet. The prices are proposed, nothing can be bought or paid on this site, and no opening date is set.
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Where the figures come from
Each record gives the full definition, the documents it came from and what we checked.
St Paul’s Girls’ School · 2023 · A-level · published record · 2023 · A-level
Checked against the original: 12 figures, including A* count, A* and A*–A.
Downe House · 2023 · A-level · published record · 2023 · A-level
Checked against the original: A*, A*–A and A*–B.
St Paul’s Girls’ School · 2025 · Published examination results · 2025 · A-level
Checked against the original: A*, A*–A, A*–B and entries.
Downe House · 2025 · A-level · published record · 2025 · A-level
Checked against the original: A*, A*–A and A*–B.
St Paul’s Girls’ School · 2026 · Published examination results · 2026 · A-level
This figure hasn’t been fully checked against the original yet.
Downe House · 2026 · A-level · published record · 2026 · A-level
Checked against the original: A*, A*–A and A*–B.