Bury A level results 2026: 99%, 95% and 98 top grades

The three post-16 providers in Bury borough all published their own A level figures on results day, Thursday 13 August, and between them they cover almost every sixth former in the borough. Read side by side, they say something the individual celebrations do not. Holy Cross nudged its rates up while the number of top grades it handed out fell. Bury College’s pass rates slipped two points. And Bury Grammar stopped publishing the one percentage that would let you compare this year with last.

Holy Cross College on Manchester Road reported a 99 per cent A level pass rate and 52 per cent of grades at A*-B, both up on last year. Sixty-two students achieved at least three grades at A* or A, and the college counted 515 individual A*/A grades and 1,180 individual A*-B grades. Its Extended Project Qualification held a 100 per cent pass rate, with 95 per cent at high grades. All Level 3 BTECs passed at 100 per cent, with 95 per cent high grades on the Extended Certificate and 100 per cent on the Extended Diploma. (Holy Cross College, A Level high grades and pass rates increase again on Results’ Day)

Set against the college’s own 2025 announcement, the rates rose and the volumes fell. Last year Holy Cross reported a 98 per cent pass rate, 51 per cent at A*-B, 73 students with at least three A*/A grades, 526 individual A*/A grades and 1,247 individual A*-B grades. So a slightly higher share of a smaller pile: 11 fewer students with a clean sweep of top grades, 11 fewer A*/A grades and 67 fewer A*-B grades than in 2025. (Holy Cross College, High grades increase by 5% on Results Day, 14 August 2025)

“Everyone at the college is incredibly proud of what our students have achieved during their time with us,” principal Carina Vitti said. “Beyond their academic achievements, we are proud to see our students leave Holy Cross as confident, compassionate and responsible individuals.”

Bury College’s pass rates slipped two points

Bury College reported an A level pass rate of 95 per cent, a Level 3 vocational pass rate of 97 per cent and an overall pass rate of 96 per cent. The college marks all three figures as correct at the time of publication and subject to change. (Bury College, Students celebrate impressive Results Day success)

Those are lower than the college’s own 2025 numbers, when it reported a 97 per cent A level pass rate and 98 per cent across Level 3 vocational courses. (Bury College, Students shine with exceptional results, 14 August 2025)

The college published six student profiles rather than grade distributions. They include a student with A* in Chemistry, A* in Maths and A in Physics heading to Imperial College London to read biomedical engineering; a student with A in Accounting, A* in Business and a Distinction* in Level 3 Law going to the University of Manchester; a T Level Health student with a Distinction, and a placement in a care home dementia unit behind her, going on to study adult nursing at Manchester; and a T Level Education and Early Years student with a Distinction heading to Edge Hill for primary teaching with QTS. Their previous schools were spread well beyond the borough, including Harper Green, Hazel Wood, St Gabriel’s and Our Lady’s.

“It’s brilliant to see so many of our students taking their next step, whether that’s beginning their careers, starting an apprenticeship, progressing to university or continuing their studies,” principal and chief executive Charlie Deane said.

Bury Grammar published counts, not percentages, at the top end

Bury Grammar School on Tenterden Street reported 98 A* and A grades in total across A levels and EPQs, with 70 per cent of grades at A*-B and well over 90 per cent at A*-C. Sixty per cent of the year group gained at least one grade A. One student took five A* grades, another five grades at A*-A, six students got four A*-A grades and 15 students got three or more. Forty students got three or more grades at A*-B, and every Further Maths grade was A*-B. The school says students beat their nationally set targets by 70 A*-A grades. (Bury Grammar School, A Level and EPQ students strike gold)

That is a change of measure worth noticing. In 2025 the school reported “more than four in ten grades at A*-A” and “over three quarters” at A*-B, plus a 100 per cent pass rate for the ninth year running. (Bury Grammar School, A Level Results 2025) This year it gave a raw count of top grades and a 70 per cent A*-B figure, and did not publish an A*-A percentage or a pass rate at all. On the one measure stated both years, A*-B, 70 per cent is below “over three quarters”.

Leavers are going to Cambridge, Imperial College London, UCL and King’s College London, though the school says the year group has overwhelmingly chosen the north, with Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle the favourites. “It has been an absolute joy to see students do even better than they thought they could,” principal Jo Anderson said.

The North West was one of three regions where top grades fell

Ofqual’s national figures put the local results in context. Across England, 28.3 per cent of A level results were at grade A or above this summer and 78.1 per cent at C or above, both up on 2025 (28.2 per cent and 77.7 per cent).

The North West did not follow. The region recorded 26.5 per cent at A and above, down from 26.6 per cent in 2025, while its C and above share rose from 78.2 to 78.4 per cent. Only the North West, the East Midlands (23.8 to 23.1 per cent) and the East of England (28.0 to 27.9 per cent) saw their top-grade share fall. London reached 32.7 per cent, 6.2 percentage points above the North West. (Ofqual, Qualification results in England: summer 2026, table 8)

The three sets of figures are not comparable

It is worth being blunt about this, because the temptation to rank them is strong. Holy Cross and Bury Grammar published grade shares; Bury College published pass rates, which count every grade from A* to E and so will always look higher. Bury College’s cohort spans A levels, T Levels and Level 3 vocational courses; Bury Grammar is a fee-paying school with a selective sixth form. None of the three published the size of its A level cohort this year, which is what you would need to compare them properly, and Ofqual’s local authority breakdown for Bury is only available through its interactive visualisation rather than the published tables.

What it means for you

If your results were not what you expected, both colleges were still running face-to-face support today. Holy Cross said progress tutors and careers staff would be available on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 August, in person or on 0161 241 1680, covering Clearing, late applications and what to do after disappointing grades. (Holy Cross College, Results Day Advice 2026)

A few practical points from that guidance, which apply whichever school you were at. If you have not met the conditions of an offer you are put into Clearing automatically. If you are holding a firm unconditional place you no longer want, you self-release using the “decline my place” button in your UCAS application. You cannot swap your firm choice for your insurance choice; that also has to go through Clearing. And if you have a place but have not applied for student finance, do it now at gov.uk/apply-for-student-finance.

If you want a grade checked, the request has to go through the school or college that entered you for the exam rather than direct to the exam board, so speak to them first and ask about the deadline for your subject.

Starting somewhere new in September is still possible. Bury College says there is time to join in September and is holding open events on 3 October and 15 October, and Holy Cross is enrolling for 2026.

GCSE results follow on Thursday 20 August, the date Ofqual has set for issuing level 1/2 and level 2 results. If you are weighing up where a family might live for the schools, our Bury house prices page sets out what homes cost in each part of the borough, and things to do in Bury covers the rest of the summer.