The published GCSE grade distribution for Dance, nationally and board by board, 2022 to 2026. Official figures, shown as they were published: a distribution, not a difficulty rating.
7,297
entries · 2026
6.3%
Grade 9
27.9%
7+
63.9%
5+ (strong pass)
AQA — the only board publishing this subject · 2026
Every bar below is AQA, the only board publishing this subject. 2022 grades were the assessed-grades peak, and the reset since is visible in the shape of each year.
AQA — the only board publishing this subject
987654321U
20227+ 36.1% · 8,268 entries
10.211.814.11715.612.210.5
20237+ 26.0% · 6,926 entries
911.917.116.914.215.2
20247+ 26.5% · 6,723 entries
9.411.717.716.314.114
20257+ 27.5% · 7,263 entries
9.611.917.316.513.612.88.2
20267+ 27.9% · 7,297 entries
9.61218.617.414.213
Movement · ranked on 7+
Dance has slipped 5 places, from #15 to #20.
Position among the 40 subjects AQA published in every year from 2022 to 2026. Subjects that appear in only some years are left out, so the field is the same size each time and a change of place is a change in the subject rather than a change in the table. A subject sits differently on each measure, so the ranking is only ever a ranking of that one thing. The block beside each measure is the whole grade scale, in the colours used at the top of this page, with the grades that measure counts filled in.
#18German35.1%
#13Computer Science40.1%
#14Physical Education36.4%
French
#15Dance36.1%
#17Drama and Theatre35.2%
#16Religious Studies35.3%
#19Spanish32.1%
Psychology
Art and Design: Textile Design
History
Art and Design: Graphic Communication
Art and Design: Art, Craft and Design
Geography
Art and Design: Fine Art
Panjabi
#11Economics43.1%
Media Studies
#12Music43.0%
Art and Design: Photography
English Literature
Statistics
2022
The 9 subjects shown span 11.0 percentage points in 2022.
Every subject, every year · #1 is the highest 7+
Entries · who is growing
Dance is shrinking while AQA’s entries as a whole grow.
8,268 entries in 2022, 7,297 in 2026 — a change of −12%, against +3.6% across all 40 subjects AQA published in every year from 2022 to 2026. This is what students chose, not how they were graded.
Every subject starts level at its 2022 size, so the bars show growth and decline rather than which subject is biggest. Boards that publish no entry counts are left out.
#10Chemistry+0.0%
#11Chinese+0.0%
#12Citizenship Studies+0.0%
#13Computer Science+0.0%
#14Dance+0.0%
#15Design and Technology+0.0%
#16Drama and Theatre+0.0%
#17Economics+0.0%
#18Engineering+0.0%
Religious Studies
Media Studies
German
Art and Design: Fine Art
Italian
Art and Design: Art, Craft and Design
Music
Bengali
Art and Design: Graphic Communication
Spanish
2022
Ranked by growth since 2022, so #1 is the fastest-growing subject rather than the largest. In 2022 the 9 shown run from +0.0% to +0.0%.
Every subject, every year · dashed line = all subjects together
Board by board · 2026
One board publishes Dance.
With a single board there is no cross-board comparison to draw; the figures below are the complete published picture.
Grade distributions reflect who enters a subject as much as the exam itself, so nothing on this page is a difficulty ranking. Figures are published cumulative percentages from JCQ and the awarding bodies; per-grade shares are derived by subtracting adjacent bands. How the data is sourced and worked out.