STUDENTS in the South of England are nearly twice as likely to get three A* A-level grades than those in the North, data reveals.
Just 5,800 of the 258,000 who sat the exams last year came away with three or more top grades.
Of those, 3,779 were from the South and 2,021 in the North.
Nine out of ten of the best areas for A-levels were in the South. Pupils in reading, in Berks, came out top — with seven per cent hitting the highest grades.
Dozens in London suburbs Kingston, Newham, Sutton and Barnet also got top marks.
The Government stats show Salford, Gtr Manchester, fared the worst, with a single set of three A* grades.
Social mobility expert Professor Lee Elliot Major called it a national scandal, saying: “These figures lay bare a brutal truth — your chances of the highest academic success at school are still shaped more by where you live than what you’re capable of.
“This A-star divide highlights the vast differences in support offered to today’s children and young people both outside and inside the classroom.
“Increasingly A-level grades are as much a sign of how much support young people have had as much as their academic capability.
“This isn’t just a North-South education divide. It’s a London and South East versus the rest Divide.”
The Department for Education said: “We are taking measures to tackle baked-in inequalities.”
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