Kensington A-level results 2026: 71% A*-B across the borough

Seven in ten A-level grades awarded to students at Kensington and Chelsea’s schools this summer were an A, A or B. The council puts the borough figure at 71% at A to B**, up from 67% in 2025, and 15 percentage points above the 56% it cites as the national average. (Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, 13 August 2026)

The council’s release gives four school-level figures for A* to B: Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School 81%, Holland Park School 78%, Kensington Aldridge Academy 63% and Chelsea Academy 54%. (RBKC, 13 August 2026)

Holland Park School has published its own fuller breakdown, and it is the standout of the set: 50% of grades at A* or A, 78% at A to B, 92% at A to C, 21% of all grades an A, and 19 students with at least two A grades. The school reports 100% A* to A in Art and Photography, 90% in Physics, 85% in Further Maths and 69% in Maths, and says its Physics, Chemistry and Fine Art outcomes are in the top 1% nationally. Its executive principal, Dame Sally Coates, said students had “achieved an exceptional set of grades across a range of academic subjects” and that the results follow “the very strong Ofsted inspection we received earlier this year”. (Holland Park School, A-level results 2026)

Councillor Catherine Faulks, the council’s lead member for family and children’s services, said: “Best of luck to all those opening their A Level results this morning! I hope students are happy with their outcomes and wish them all the best for the exciting next chapter of their lives, whatever path they choose.” (RBKC, 13 August 2026)

How the borough sits against London and England

The council’s percentages are not directly comparable with the official national statistics, and it is worth understanding why before reading too much into “15 points above the national average”.

Ofqual’s published tables for summer 2026 report A-level results at A and above and C and above by region and by type of school; they do not publish an A to B figure at all, so the 56% national figure quoted by the council cannot be checked against them and is attributed here to the council. Schools also tend to report “A to B including equivalents”, folding vocational results in, whereas Ofqual counts A-levels only. (Ofqual, Qualification results in England: summer 2026, data tables)

On the measures Ofqual does publish, London had the strongest results of any English region this summer: 32.7% of A-level grades at A or above and 80.5% at C or above, against 28.3% and 78.1% for England as a whole. Both London figures are up on 2025 (32.1% and 79.5%). (Ofqual, summer 2026 data tables, Table 8)

The fairest benchmark for a school is Ofqual’s split by type of centre. In 2026, academies nationally recorded 23.5% of grades at A or above, local authority maintained comprehensives 23.0%, sixth form colleges 25.6%, grammar schools 43.4% and independent schools 48.6%. Holland Park’s 50% at A* or A, on its own reported figures, sits above the independent-sector average and more than double the academy average. (Ofqual, summer 2026 data tables, Table 9; Holland Park School)

Ofqual also now publishes results by local authority district on an interactive map, but that data is not downloadable in a form we can cite, and it assigns grades to areas by the postcode of the exam centre rather than where a student lives. For a borough with a large number of independent schools, that would inflate the local figure with results from students who live elsewhere. The council’s 71% is a figure for its own schools, which is the more useful one for residents. (Ofqual Analytics, A level grade outcomes by administrative area)

The other schools

Kensington Aldridge Academy has not yet published its 2026 headline figures. Its own results page shows 71% of grades at A to B in 2025, 38% at A to A, and 92% of its 2025 leavers going into higher education, 49% of them to Russell Group universities. The council’s 63% for the academy this year is therefore lower than the school’s own reported figure for last year, though the two publishers may not be counting on exactly the same basis. (Kensington Aldridge Academy, exam results; RBKC, 13 August 2026)

Chelsea Academy’s website carries its 2025 A-level results but nothing yet for 2026, and Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School’s site could not be reached when we checked on 16 August. Their 2026 figures above rest on the council’s release alone; we will update this article if either school publishes its own breakdown. (Chelsea Academy, news archive)

What it means for you

If you have a result you want checked, the deadlines are tight. A priority review of marking, the fast track for anyone with a university place at stake, must be requested by 20 August 2026 and is completed within 15 calendar days. A standard review of marking or a clerical re-check must be requested by 24 September 2026. Requests go through your school’s exams officer, not direct to the exam board, and you must give written consent first, because a grade “could go down as well as up”. (JCQ, post-results services)

If you are choosing a sixth form, the council figures are a start, but ask each school for its A to A rate and its results in the subjects you actually want to take, because a whole-school A to B percentage hides a lot. Holland Park is the only one of the four to have published subject-level results for 2026 so far.

GCSE results for the borough’s schools follow on Thursday 20 August. We will report those the same way, from the schools’ and council’s own figures. Ofsted’s most recent reports for each of the schools named here are on the Ofsted reports site.