Sorry for the misleading information. I forgot to cite the source for that as I googled it. Here is something about A levels in Uk. The proportion of exam entries that achieved an A was 24.1%, up 1.3 percentage points on last year, said the Joint Council for Qualifications. Amid continuing concern, ministers are making changes to stretch the brightest students and help universities distinguish between the top performers. The overall A-level pass rate rose for the 24th year, by 0.4 to 96.6%. There were markedly more entries for maths. source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4801035.stm