Exam results day: A-level top grades rise as most students secure first university choice
Hundreds of thousands of teenagers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as they got their A-level, T-level and BTec results on Thursday. Our Social Affairs Correspondent Sarah Corker reports
The number of top A-level grades awarded is up on last year, national figures show, while most students got their first choice university.
Hundreds of thousands of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland woke up to receive their grades and find out if they were enough to help them progress on to university, an apprenticeship or employment.
More than a quarter (27.8%) of UK A-level entries were awarded an A or A* grade, up by 0.6 percentage points on last year when 27.2% achieved the top grades.
This was also higher than in 2019 – the last year that summer exams were taken before the pandemic – when 25.4% of entries were awarded A or A* grades.
Four in five students have successfully got into their first choice of university, with 376,470 accepted by their first-choice institution.
Meanwhile the number of applicants accepted on to UK degree courses has risen this year, Ucas figures show.
Overall, 243,650 18-year-old applicants from the UK have been accepted at a university or college, compared to 230,600 last year – a rise of 6%.
In England, exams regulator Ofqual said it expects this summer’s national results to be “broadly similar” to last summer, when grades were brought back in line with pre-pandemic levels.
Ofqual’s chief regulator Sir Ian Bauckham told a briefing: “There is no grade inflation this year. Standards have been maintained from 2023. Any change is largely due to the ability of the cohort.”
In Wales and Northern Ireland, exam regulators are aiming to return to pre-pandemic grading this summer – a year later than in England.
It comes after the Covid-19 pandemic led to an increase in top grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams.
The education secretary said she's determined to close the north-south attainment gap, adding:"We have to respond to wider pressures families are facing at the moment"
A closer look at the results
In A-levels, boys have pulled further ahead of girls at the top grade this year, with 9.5% of boys’ entries scoring an A* compared with 9.1% of girls’ entries – a gap of 0.4 percentage points. Last year the gap was 0.3 percentage points.
Boys have traditionally led girls, scoring more A* grades than their female classmates every year between 2012 and 2019. But girls overtook boys between 2020 and 2022 – the years of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Girls continued to outperform boys at A* and A but the gender gap has narrowed again this year.
A total of 4,135 students in England alone scored three A* grades, according to separate figures from Ofqual. This is up from 3,820 last year and 2,785 in 2019.
Attainment gap widens between independent and comprehensive schools
The latest statistics show that the attainment gap between independent schools and comprehensives in England has widened compared with last year.
The latest Ofqual figures show that this summer, 49.4% of independent school candidates scored grade A or above in all subjects, compared with 22.3% of those at comprehensive schools – a gap of 27.1 percentage points.
Last year, the gap was 25.4 percentage points, while in 2019 it was 24.8 percentage points.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Young people deserve enormous credit for what they have achieved, in the face of both the huge disruption of recent years, and in too many cases the inequality that goes hand in hand with young people’s backgrounds.
“I am determined to break down these barriers to opportunity so every young person can pursue their dreams and thrive.
“I hope young people everywhere can celebrate their results and look forward to their next step – be that university, an apprenticeship or beginning their careers.”
Rise in entries for A-levels in Russian and Chinese
Entries for A-level Russian rose to 1,044 this summer from 827 in 2023, possibly due to Ukrainian refugees.
Entries for the subject are now at their highest level since 2018 when the number stood at 1,160.
Sir Ian Bauckham, Ofqual’s chief regulator, said it is "difficult" to explain why these "lesser-taught" languages have become more popular among students.
"But I think we can all imagine that some Ukrainian refugees who came to the UK over the last couple of years – many of whom are proficient in Russian – may have chosen to enter A-level Russian, and done that using their school or college as an exam centre," he added.
The data, which covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland and was published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), also shows an increase in the popularity of Chinese.
There were 1,643 entries for the A-level this year, compared to 1,449 in 2023. This is still lower than it was in 2019 when there were 2,272 entries for the subject.
Vicky Gough, schools adviser at the British Council, said: "It’s positive to see an increase in entries for Mandarin Chinese, which have been boosted in recent years by the expansion of the Mandarin Excellence programme, an initiative delivered by University College London and British Council on behalf of the Department for Education."
Covid-19, Raac, cost of living: Students faced with series of challenges
Leaders in the education sector have warned that this cohort of young people has had to overcome a series of challenges in recent years – and those from disadvantaged backgrounds have been hit the worst.
The cohort of students who are receiving their A-level results were in Year 9 when schools closed due to the pandemic, and they were the first year group to sit GCSE exams in 2022 after they were cancelled for two years in a row.
Just days before the academic year was due to start last year, a number of schools were forced to offer remote learning when reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) was found in buildings.
A one-off uplift to exam marks has not been granted to all pupils who had their education disrupted by Raac - despite calls from schools and families affected.
Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “This is a red-letter day for thousands of young people and there will be both celebrations and disappointments. Students in the latter category should not despair, however, as there are a range of options available.”
He added: “While the dark days of the pandemic are in the past, its legacy continues to haunt us, as many of these students experienced severe disruption to their education.
“In particular, this impacted upon young people from disadvantaged backgrounds whose families were also adversely affected by the subsequent cost-of-living crisis.”
Department for Education (DfE) figures, as of February 8, show 234 education settings in England have been identified as having the collapse-risk concrete in their buildings.
Of these, 94 are listed as secondary or all-through state schools, while 11 are post-16 colleges.
Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said: “In many ways this is one of the unluckiest cohorts to emerge in the post-pandemic era – blighted by Covid disruption, a cost-of-living crisis not to mention the national crisis of unfit school buildings, and yet at the same time they have received no compensation or extra support in the exam system.”
The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) has said schools and colleges can apply for “special consideration” after Thursday if they feel their results have been affected by Raac disruption during the exam series – such as a “noisy environment” in the exam hall due to nearby building work.
England's T-level results
In England, 7,380 students received their T-level results in the third year that the qualification has been awarded – and 88.7% achieved at least a pass.
Around 250,000 results were also issued to students who took level 3 vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) this year.
Scotland's results
Scotland has a different qualification system and students received their results on Tuesday last week.
Figures released by the Scottish Qualifications Authority showed 77.2% of those sitting National 5 exams passed with grades A to C – down from 78.8% last year.
For Highers, 74.9% passed with the top bands, down from 77.1% last year, and for Advanced Highers 75.3% of students achieved A to C grades, falling from 79.8% in 2023.
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...