But there were increases in the numbers taking business studies, computing and general studies. Computing rose in popularity by 17%.

There were significant decreases in the numbers taking English, the sciences, French, geography and history.

The table below shows the percentage of candidates getting the various grades in each A level subject. The rows in grey are the 1998 figures, for comparison.

A levels are graded from A (the best) down to E, with N denoting a 'near miss' - not good enough to pass, but only by a small margin. A grade U (unclassified) is a clear failure.

A	B	C	D	E	N	U
Art and Design Subjects (Note 1)
23.6	21.0	24.0	17.4	9.3	3.6	1.1
23.1	20.6	24.0	17.9	9.9	3.3	1.2
Biology
17.4	19.1	19.4	17.6	13.6	8.0	4.9
15.9	19.3	19.2	17.5	14.0	8.0	6.1
Business Studies
9.0	19.3	24.4	20.5	13.5	7.8	5.5
8.2	19.1	24.1	20.6	14.0	8.1	5.9
Chemistry
24.5	21.6	18.8	14.8	10.6	6.0	3.7
23.0	21.2	18.6	14.7	11.1	6.9	4.5
Classical Subjects (Note 1)
27.1	23.7	20.8	13.5	8.4	4.0	2.5
25.9	22.2	19.9	15.4	9.3	4.4	2.9
Communication Studies
11.0	17.9	16.8	18.5	16.0	9.8	10.0
12.2	19.1	16.4	17.0	14.7	9.8	10.8
Computing
8.7	13.6	20.3	22.0	17.6	9.8	8.0
8.3	13.7	20.8	20.5	17.3	10.6	8.8
Economics
19.3	18.7	19.4	17.2	13.1	7.1	5.2
18.0	18.1	19.2	17.1	12.7	8.0	6.9
English (Note 1)
15.2	19.2	23.8	21.1	13.4	5.2	2.1
14.9	19.1	22.9	21.3	13.7	5.6	2.5
A	B	C	D	E	N	U
Expressive Arts
12.0	18.1	25.9	21.6	13.0	5.9	3.5
10.6	16.5	25.1	22.9	13.3	6.7	4.9
French
23.2	20.4	20.1	16.4	11.3	5.7	2.9
21.6	20.7	19.6	17.3	11.6	6.2	3.0
General Studies
12.5	16.8	19.2	19.7	15.8	9.6	6.4
13.0	16.6	20.3	19.5	15.2	9.0	6.4
Geography
16.3	22.4	23.6	19.0	11.1	5.3	2.3
15.0	22.3	23.5	18.6	12.0	6.0	2.6
German
27.5	19.6	19.0	14.8	11.1	5.1	2.9
26.7	19.1	19.8	15.4	10.6	5.7	2.7
History
16.8	20.1	21.5	18.0	11.5	6.6	5.5
15.4	19.5	20.7	18.7	12.8	7.0	5.9
Home Economics
10.7	17.6	22.1	21.3	14.4	8.1	5.8
10.4	17.2	22.1	21.4	14.3	8.4	6.2
Law
11.4	13.6	16.6	17.8	14.8	11.2	14.6
11.2	12.3	17.2	17.0	15.4	11.4	15.5
Mathematics
28.3	19.0	16.5	13.8	10.7	6.6	5.1
28.0	19.1	16.7	13.9	10.6	6.5	5.2
Media/Film/TV Studies (Note 1)
9.7	16.8	30.0	25.1	12.1	4.2	2.1
10.6	16.1	28.6	24.9	13.0	4.3	2.5
A	B	C	D	E	N	U
Music
20.3	20.5	24.7	18.6	10.1	4.2	1.6
19.5	20.5	23.5	19.0	10.8	4.5	2.2
Other Modern Languages (Note 3)
34.5	25.3	17.5	11.5	6.1	2.6	2.5
32.4	25.7	18.6	11.4	6.0	3.0	2.9
Physics
24.1	20.0	18.8	15.3	11.3	6.6	3.9
22.4	20.8	18.6	15.5	11.2	7.1	4.4
Political Studies
19.2	21.9	22.6	17.4	10.3	5.1	3.5
17.9	21.7	23.2	17.8	10.3	5.3	3.8
Psychology
11.9	17.8	20.6	18.3	14.0	10.1	7.3
11.1	16.7	20.2	18.8	14.9	10.5	7.8
Religious Studies
17.4	20.4	23.9	17.7	10.5	5.7	4.4
14.9	21.2	22.1	19.1	12.0	6.0	4.7
Science Subjects (Note 2)
13.3	16.1	21.9	22.1	14.9	7.4	4.3
11.7	16.1	20.9	23.1	16.5	7.8	3.9
Sociology
12.7	18.6	19.2	16.3	14.5	10.2	8.5
12.1	18.0	19.4	16.6	14.1	10.7	9.1
Spanish
24.6	23.8	20.4	15.3	8.8	4.0	3.1
24.8	22.6	20.0	15.0	9.8	4.5	3.3
Sport/PE Studies
9.4	13.0	23.1	25.5	18.7	7.8	2.5
8.1	12.4	22.3	25.6	19.7	8.9	3.0
A	B	C	D	E	N	U
Technology Subjects (Note 1)
13.6	14.8	24.7	23.0	14.3	6.3	3.3
12.2	13.9	23.4	22.6	16.3	7.6	4.0
Welsh (Note 4)
18.4	25.8	24.0	16.2	10.1	3.8	1.7
18.5	22.6	23.7	20.8	9.4	3.7	1.3
All Other Subjects
13.6	17.8	22.1	17.4	11.6	6.5	11.0
13.4	17.6	20.1	16.5	12.2	7.9	12.3
All Subjects
17.5	19.0	21.0	18.3	12.7	6.9	4.6
16.8	18.9	20.8	18.3	13.0	7.2	5.0
Source: Joint Council for General Qualifications, 1999