Behind England’s bumper A-level results lie record levels of regional disparities

In London, nearly a third of A-level candidates gained A*s and As. In the East Midlands and north-east, the figure was less than a quarter. Photograph: Peter Lopeman/Alamy

Andy Burnham has put regional inequality at the top of his agenda as prime minister, and nowhere is the need for doing so clearer than in education.

As England’s A-level results were published on Thursday morning, students across the country were pictured celebrating a bumper crop of results, with record rates of As and A*s.