Research edition · Comparison · St Paul’s · City of London

How do St Paul’s and City of London 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 St Paul’s and City of London on this measure in only two years: 2025 (St Paul’s 59.3%, City of London 39%) and 2026 (St Paul’s 60%, City of London 42%). Two years can’t show a pattern.

Measure: Share of published A-level entries awarded A* in the named examination year. Years: 2025–2026.

Your briefing (0)

The figures

Not charted: fewer than 3 comparable years for any of these schools, too few to draw a line. The figures: St Paul’s (2025: 59.3%; 2026: 60%); City of London (2025: 39%; 2026: 42%).

A-level grades at A*: St Paul’s and City of London, each year both can be compared. The gap is St Paul’s minus City of London, in percentage points.
YearSt Paul’s (%)City of London (%)Gap (points)
202559.3a3920.3a
2026604218
  1. a St Paul’s 2025: a dated review on 28 September 2026 found the printed 59.3% A* and 92.5% A*–A headlines on the school’s results page, but the subject table on the same page adds up to 701 of 759 grades at A*–A, which is 92.36%. What explains the difference, a different group of entries or another version of the page, is unresolved. The 759 is only the sum of the table’s rows: the school doesn’t give it as the base of its 92.5% headline, and we don’t treat it as one.

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.

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.

  1. St Paul’s School · 2025 · A-level results · 2025

    Checked against the original: A*. Not yet checked: A*–A and A*–B.

  2. 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.

  3. St Paul’s School · 2026 · A-level results · 2026

    Checked against the original: A*. Not yet checked: 6 figures, including A*–A, A*–B and candidates.

  4. City of London School · 2026 · A-level · published record · 2026 · A-level

    Checked against the original: A*, A*–A and A*–B.

Source evidenceOpen full record ↗