A big draw of snazzy private schools is that the students there often end up with really high A-Level grades (because you don’t need to work as hard when you have a team of tutors to help you). But there are loads of state schools across the UK where the students get just as good A-Level grades, if not better ones, than top private schools. Here are the 20 best UK state schools for A-Level grades.
For context, at the 30 best UK private schools for A-Level grades, students generally get above 73 per cent As or A*s. Lots of these state schools get a pretty similar amount of top grades.
Please note that all these state schools are selective, and the majority are in bougie areas of London or the home counties. I’m just casually drawing attention to how the fundamental unfairness of the British school system extends beyond the private school / state school divide x
This data came from Brittania, who gathered it from the Department for Education and the Independent Schools Council.
So, here are the 20 best state schools in the UK for A-Level grades:
20. Dr Challoner’s Grammar School, Buckinghamshire
59.5 per cent A or A*
=18. St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School, north London
60.0 per cent
=18. Liverpool Blue Coat School, Liverpool

I definitely didn’t expect the school to fly a blue coat from this tower like a flag
(Credit: Rodhullandemu)
60.0 per cent A or A*
=15. Dame Alice Owen’s School, Hertfordshire
62.0 per cent A or A*
=15. Wallington County Grammar School, Sutton
62.0 per cent A or A*
=15. Stratford Girls’ Grammar School, Stratford-upon-Avon
62.0 per cent A or A*
14. Colyton Grammar School, Devon
64.5 per cent A or A*
13. Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, Greater Manchester
65.0 per cent A or A*
=11. The Latymer School, north London
67.0 per cent A or A*
=11. King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls, Birmingham
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69.4 per cent A or A*
10. Altrincham Grammar School, Greater Manchester
68.0 per cent A or A*
9. King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford
69.4 per cent A or A*
8. Tiffin School, Kingston upon Thames
70.0 per cent A or A*
7. Reading School, Reading

Reading is a selective state boarding school for boys
71.0 per cent A or A*
=5. Pate’s Grammar School, Cheltenham
72.0 per cent A or A*
=5. The Tiffin Girls’ School, Kingston upon Thames
72.0 per cent A or A*
4. St Olave’s Grammar School, Orpington
74.0 per cent A or A*
3. Wilson’s School, Wallington
77.0 per cent A or A*
2. Henrietta Barnett School, north London
81.0 per cent A or A*
1. Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet
85.2 per cent A or A*
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Featured image of Henrietta Barnett School by Mark Ahsmann. Featured image of ltrincham Grammar School for Boys by Rept0n1x.