Herefordshire's A level pass rate was 98.7%, the council says, and Hereford Sixth Form recorded 57.2% of grades at A* to B. GCSE results follow on 20 August.

Herefordshire students passed 98.7 per cent of their A levels this summer, Herefordshire Council said after results were issued on Thursday 13 August, and the county’s largest sixth forms have now published figures of their own. GCSE results follow on Thursday 20 August, and free drop-in advice sessions run in Hereford from that morning. (Herefordshire Council, 13 August 2026)

The council’s 98.7 per cent is the A* to E pass rate across the county. It put that against a West Midlands average of 97.4 per cent and a figure of 97.9 per cent for England. Councillor Ivan Powell, cabinet member for children and young people, thanked “all of the Herefordshire’s teachers, the support staff and everyone working in our schools and colleges”, and said the hope was that “many of them will stay with us in Herefordshire”.

Timeline of Herefordshire results dates: A levels 13 August, GCSEs and the first Youth Employment Hub drop-in 20 August, further drop-ins 21, 24 and 25 to 27 August, Clearing closing 19 October 2026
Graphic by Hereford Today

What the colleges published

Hereford Sixth Form College is the biggest single source of Level 3 results in the county, and more than 1,000 students finished courses there this summer. It reported a record 57.2 per cent of grades at A* to B against a national average it gives as 55.6 per cent, and a pass rate of 99.2 per cent against a national 97.5 per cent. On applied courses, more than 57 per cent of students took distinctions. The college noted that those outcomes came from an open-access provider, meaning it does not select on prior attainment.

Principal Catherine Brearey said the results “reflect not only their hard work and determination, but also the encouragement and support of our staff”. Students from the college are moving on to medicine at Oxford, maths at Warwick and a degree apprenticeship in project management consultancy, among other destinations.

At Hereford Cathedral School, an independent school, more than 85 per cent of A level and BTEC grades were at A* to C and more than 87 per cent of students took up places at their first-choice university, with destinations including Oxford, Durham, Exeter, Bristol, Sheffield, Birmingham and Cardiff. Headmaster Dr Gray said the results were “testament to the hard work of our young people”.

How that compares, and one figure that cannot be checked

Ofqual issued 835,950 A level results in England on 13 August, to 320,505 students at 2,835 schools and colleges. (Qualification results in England: summer 2026) Nationally the share of entries at A or A* barely moved, from 28.2 per cent last year to 28.3 per cent this year.

Ofqual’s own tables give the West Midlands 24.2 per cent of results at A or above and 74.6 per cent at C or above, from 81,530 entries. They also show why the type of institution matters when comparing local figures: sixth form colleges as a group recorded 25.6 per cent at A and above and 78.1 per cent at C and above, further education establishments 12.8 per cent and 63.8 per cent, and independent schools 48.6 per cent and 89.4 per cent.

One caveat worth stating plainly. Ofqual’s statistical release does not publish a national A* to E pass rate, so the council’s comparison against a 97.9 per cent England figure cannot be checked against the primary data, and Hereford Sixth Form College cites a different national pass rate, 97.5 per cent, in the same week. Herefordshire’s 98.7 per cent is the council’s own count for its own schools and colleges, which is worth knowing when it is set beside a national average.

What it means for you

If you are waiting on GCSE results, they are released on Thursday 20 August. Herefordshire Council’s Youth Employment Hub is running free drop-in sessions with no appointment needed: Thursday 20 August 1pm to 4pm, Friday 21 August 10am to 2pm and Monday 24 August 1pm to 4pm, at 57 to 59 Blue School Street, Hereford, HR1 2AR, or on 01432 261515. Hereford College of Arts is holding an applications, advice and next steps drop-in on Friday 21 August, 10am to 12 noon at its Folly Lane campus, and Herefordshire, Ludlow and North Shropshire College is open for advice on 25, 26 and 27 August, 10am to 4pm.

If you missed your university offer, Clearing is open until Monday 19 October 2026, and you can apply through it if you are not already holding an offer and the course still has places. (UCAS)

If you think a grade is wrong, you cannot go to the exam board yourself. Reviews of marking are requested by your school or college on your behalf, so speak to them first, and do it quickly: the boards set early deadlines for cases where a university place depends on the outcome.

If you are driving in for a results appointment or a drop-in, our Hereford roadworks and travel page lists what is closed or dug up before you set off.