Overall, 79% of 18-year-old pupils in the UK receiving a decision today have gained a place at their first choice university.

16, 530 students who received free school meals (FSM) have also gained a place at university which is a 60% increase from 2019.

In a sign that grading is returning to normal, this year, 27.2% of UK entries for A levels achieved a grade A and above, slightly higher than 25.4% in 2019, before the pandemic. 76% of UK entries achieved a grade C and above, in line with 75.9% in 2019.

This year has seen Mathematics continue to be the most popular A Level since 2014 as well as record-breaking numbers of A Level entries in Computing, producing over 16% more entries than last year. The data from this year’s results day show 34.8% of entries from free schools and 25.4% of entries from academies getting a grade A or above – compared to 22.0% of entries from Local Authority maintained comprehensive schools.

Around 3,400 T Level students received their results today as the second ever cohort completed the new, high quality technical qualification. 90.5% of T Level students achieved a Pass or above.

T Levels offer a wide range of progression options as many of these students will also go on to do apprenticeships, and UCAS has today revealed that 1,220 T Level students have been accepted into university, demonstrating the value and reputation of these qualifications.

Over 250,000 certificates were awarded for those completing their Level 3 vocational and technical qualifications.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:

“Congratulations to everyone receiving results today. There are more opportunities than ever before so whatever your results, I’m sure you will have a bright future ahead of you.

“It’s fantastic to see the number of young people accepted to university – including to their first choice – continue to be up on the years before the pandemic, while thousands more go off to exciting apprenticeships and the world of work.

“As always, there are a wide range of fantastic options for those who did not get the results they hoped for, and students can find out more by visiting the UCAS website or through the National Careers Service.”

If students have not received the grades they were hoping for, there are thousands of high-quality courses available through Clearing. This morning there were nearly 29,000 courses available, many of which are at the most selective universities. Clearing opportunities can be accessed through this link: https://www.ucas.com/clearing-launch

For those who do not wish to go through Clearing, students can call the National Careers Service on 0800 100 900 for advice on their next steps.

There are also options available other than university. Apprenticeships offer people of all ages and backgrounds the chance to gain the skills they need to build successful careers, while making sure employers can access the skilled workforce they and our economy need to grow.

For more information and to explore all the other exciting options available to young people go to: Get the Jump: explore your education and training choices | National Careers Service

Almost £5 billion has been made available to help pupils to recover from the impact of the pandemic, including over £1.5 billion for the National Tutoring Programme and 16-19 Tuition Fund, which have supported millions of students in need of extra support. Nearly four million tutoring courses have now been started through the National Tutoring Programme, including over 1.3 million so far this academic year.

Nearly 180,000 18-year-old students in England have had their place at their first choice of university confirmed. This is the largest number ever on record for an examination year, a 20% increase on 2019, when exams were last sat.

Overall, 425,830 students of all ages and domiciles will be going onto university, including a record number of 18-year-olds from a disadvantaged background for an examination year. The gap between the most and least advantaged progressing to university has narrowed to a record low (from 2.29 in 2019 to 2.26 in 2022, and from 2.32 in 2021.)

The first cohort of T level students received their results today, with over 92% achieving a pass or above. Many have already secured their first job or an apprenticeship in areas like mechanics and digital product design, and 370 students, 71% of those who applied, have so far been placed onto a university course, demonstrating the flexibility and appeal of these courses.

This is the first year that students have taken summer exams since 2019. As part of the Ofqual transition period back to pre-pandemic grades, AS, A level and Vocational and Technical Qualification results received today will be higher than in 2019 in recognition of the disruption students experienced during their exam years.

Exams were taken with support and adaptions in place, including advance information of topics for A levels, and longer assessment windows for vocational and technical qualifications.

Grades will be lower than 2021 when exams did not go ahead and grades were determined by teachers, as schools and colleges remained closed to most pupils until March.

36% of entries for A levels are at grade A or above in the UK – up from 25% in 2019, and down from 45% in 2021, reflecting the target set out last autumn.

Statistics published today also show:

• 83% of entries for A levels are at grade C or above – up from 76% in 2019, and down from 89% in 2021, reflecting the target set out last autumn.
• The gap between the proportion of top grades (A*, A and above and B and above) in independent schools and academies in England has narrowed compared to 2021.
• 92.2% of T Level students in receipt of results this year achieved a Pass or above, with 31.9% achieving a Distinction and 2.7% a Distinction*.
• Over 240,000 certificates awarded to a wide range of students who have undertaken Level 3 vocational and technical qualifications used for progression in a similar way to A levels, with results broadly similar to previous years.
• 87.7% of undergraduates for this year at UK universities are from the UK compared to 12.3% of international students. This compares to 14.7% of international students in 2019.

Education Secretary James Cleverly said: “I want to congratulate students getting their results today and say a big thank you to the teachers who helped them get to this point. These students have experienced unprecedented disruption over the last couple of years, and such excellent results are a testament to their resilience and hard work.

“Our plan this year was to ensure that students could sit their exams for the first time since 2019, be graded fairly and move on to the next stage of their lives as we return to normality after the pandemic.

“We have now seen the largest number of students on record for an examination year – including a record 23,220 of disadvantaged 18-year-olds – going on to university, while many others will take their next steps in further training or the world of work.

“Regardless of what those next steps are, I wish all students the very best on this exciting new chapter in their lives.”

179,690 18-year-olds in England gained their first choice of university place, 21,670 their insurance. This compares to 149,670 getting their firm choice and 19,300 getting their insurance choice in 2019.

The Government has been working with the higher education sector to ensure that universities have been making offers that reflect the grades students have received today.

Universities have been encouraged to be flexible in their decision-making on admissions for students who narrowly miss their grades or terms of their offer and they have a wealth of experience supporting young people throughout the application process, including through the changing circumstances with recent results cycles.

Medicine and Dentistry are hugely competitive courses, and consistently have far more applicants than there are places available. Despite more cautious offer making this year so universities can avoid oversubscription, the government expects all places on these courses to be filled for 2022/23.

For those students going onto higher education in September from the lowest-income households, on top of the standard cost of living support package, the Government has continued to increase support for living costs on an annual basis. This means that these students now have access to the largest ever amounts in cash terms. The Government also asked the Office for Students to protect the £256 million available to support disadvantaged students and those in the need for the current financial year.

If students have not received the grades they were hoping for, a record number of places are available through UCAS, as well as a range of high quality vocational and technical options. Students can call the National Careers Service on 0371 468 0468 for advice on their next steps.

To help future students recover from the impact of the pandemic the Government has invested nearly £5 billion including £1.5 billion for the National Tutoring Programme. Over two million courses have now started through the National Tutoring Programme, including 1.8 million so far this academic year across an estimated 80% of schools.

The Department for Education and Ofqual will evaluate the arrangements this year, before finalising 2023 arrangements as early as possible in autumn. The intention is to return to the carefully designed and well-established pre-pandemic exam arrangements as quickly as possible, given they are the best and fairest way of assessing what students know and can do.

Analysis by BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT found that entries in England to take Computer Science A level were up by nearly 18% on last year.

Though there are many routes to a tech career, BCS said the subject’s growing popularity was important to the pipeline of talent working in areas like digital health and climate change.

BCS’ study of Ofqual’s provisional data shows that 15,210 students are sitting Computer Science A Level in England this year, up from 12,930 in 2021. This rise of 17.6% is the largest increase of any A Level subject.

It is the highest number of entrants in England ever and a 57% increase over the last five years, BCS, the professional body for information technology, added.

Demand for computer science is rising across higher education too, with BCS’ analysis earlier this year showing applications to study computer science degrees also rising by 13% – the biggest increase of any UK university subject.

Dr Bill Mitchell OBE, Director of Policy at BCS, said: “An A-level in Computer Science helps to develop the thinking skills needed to solve the big challenges facing society, whether that’s in healthcare, climate change, or the digital divide.

“Thanks to initiatives like the National Centre for Computing Education, we’ve got the highest number ever of students ever taking A-level Computer Science, which is excellent for these students and excellent for the rest of us who’ll benefit when they take those advanced skills into their further education and their jobs.”

BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, is one of the three consortium partners which run the NCCE, alongside the Raspberry Pi Foundation and STEM Learning. The NCCE is funded by the Department for Education and delivers training and resources with the aim of enabling every child in every school in England to have a world-leading computing education.

Entries to GCSE Computing have also steadily increased over the last five years, showing a 9% increase over the last five years, with 79,135 students entering GCSE computing in 2022, up from 72,360 in 2018.

As well as facing almost a year of disruption to their studies as a consequence of the initial closure of schools and more recently whole year groups being placed into isolation, they also face continuing uncertainty around the forthcoming A-level cycle.

In order to support sixth-form students due to sit their exams in the UK next summer and help ensure they are not disadvantaged compared with those who sat their exams before Covid as well as future cohorts, the University of Birmingham has announced that it will be introducing additional flexibility around its admissions approach this year. This will involve reducing the entry requirements across the majority of its undergraduate degree programmes by one grade.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, Professor Sir David Eastwood said: “We recognise the need to adapt our admissions approach for this year given the extraordinary disruption affecting these students and their schools and the fact that many are likely to experience more than a year of interrupted learning by the time they sit their exams next summer.

“We have considered what we can do as a University to recognise and reward potential, mitigate some of the educational challenges as result of Covid, and reduce some of the pressure on students and teachers at this challenging time. Providing greater flexibility in our admissions for 2021 entry is one such area. Reducing the entry requirements for almost all of our programmes by one grade will, we hope, alleviate some of the anxieties and ensure that anyone who chooses to apply to study at the University of Birmingham is given the best opportunity to succeed in that ambition.”

The headline adjustment to entry grades will be applied across the majority of programmes. It will also be applied to any widening participation applicants at the University of Birmingham such as through the Pathways to Birmingham programme or contextual offer-making. In implementing this change the University also recognises the wider need to review university admissions nationally in order to develop a more effective admissions system that puts the needs of students front and centre.

The programmes that are not included are Medicine, Dentistry and Dental Hygiene, Nursing, Physiotherapy, and Social Work, where there is external regulation, as well as the University’s Foundation Year and degree apprenticeship programmes.

As it now stands, the dates student will receive their grades are those which were in place before GCSEs and A-levels were cancelled for 2020. Back in March, when the exams were cancelled, the government had stated that students would receive their grades sometime before the end of July, raising concerns among practitioners that the proposed replacement system would not be able to deliver grades in the timescale.

It now appears that saner council has prevailed, with the switch to the original dates being broadly welcomed.

For this summer’s awards, schools and colleges are being asked to provide centre assessment grades for their students. These should be fair, objective and carefully considered judgements of the grades schools and colleges believe their students would have been most likely to achieve if they had sat their exams, and should take into account the full range of available evidence.

Sally Collier, Chief Regulator, Ofqual, said: “School or college based assessment already has an important role in many GCSEs, AS and A levels and in extraordinary circumstances such as these, schools and colleges are best placed to judge the likely performance of their students at the end of the course.

“We have worked closely with the teaching profession to ensure that what we are asking is both appropriate and manageable, so that everyone can have confidence in the approach. I would like to take this opportunity to thank teachers and school leaders for making this process work for students during these very challenging times.

“We have published a message to students to reassure them that we, and exam boards, will do everything we can to make sure that, as far as possible, grades are fair and that they are not disadvantaged in their progress to sixth form, college, university, apprenticeships, training or work because of these unprecedented conditions.”

Exam boards will be contacting schools, colleges and other exam centres after Easter asking them to submit, by a deadline that will be no earlier than 29 May 2020, the following:

• a centre assessment grade for every student in each of their subjects: that is, the grade they would be most likely to have achieved if they had sat their exams and completed any non-exam assessment. Judgements should balance different sources of evidence such as:
  • classwork
  • bookwork
  • any participation in performances in subjects such as music, drama or PE
  • any non-exam assessment – whether or not complete
  • the results of any assignments or mock exams
  • previous examination results – for example, for any re-sitting students or those with relevant AS qualifications
  • any other records of student performance over the course of study
• the rank order of students within each grade for each subject – for example, for all those students with a centre assessment grade of 5 in GCSE maths, a rank order where 1 is the most secure/highest attaining student, and so on. This information will be used in the statistical standardisation of centres’ judgements – allowing fine tuning of the standard applied across all schools and colleges
• a declaration from the Head of Centre making the submission

To make sure that grades are as fair as possible across schools and colleges, exam boards will put all centre assessment grades through a process of standardisation using a model being developed with Ofqual.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcses-as-and-a-level-awarding-summer-2020

New analysis published today by the national academy for the humanities and social sciences points to a decline in A level entries in modern languages, English, History and Geography, with similar trends seenin undergraduate and postgraduate numbers.

According to provisional entry data, the number of students taking German A level in England this year is down 16% on 2017, while entries for French fell by 8% in the same period.

Entries for English subjects (English; English Literature; English Language & Literature) have declined by 9%, and Religious Studies by 23%, since last year.

There has been a promising increase in Spanish and other modern languages in recent years, but this is not enough to reverse the steady decline in the number of students leaving school with foreign language skills.

The British Academy warns that trends at A level are having a knock-on effect on higher education.

Between 2012-13 and 2016-17, the number of students studying languages at university fell by 14%. With fewer students applying, at least 10 modern languages departments have closed in the last decade, and a furthernine significantly downsized.

The British Academy is warning that a decline in the humanities puts the national skillset at risk. Insights from the arts, humanities and social sciences will be vital to ‘future proof’ the workforce in an ageof automation and rapid change, alongside skills from science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), according to recentresearch from the British Academy.

Professor Sir David Cannadine, historian and President of the British Academy said:“At the British Academy, we are concerned that the decline in students studying humanities subjects at A level is already having an impact on the skills of the future workforce, especially when it comes to foreign languages.

“In an age of shifting diplomatic alignments, and with Brexit around the corner, our lack of language skills could put the UK at a major disadvantage when forging global connections.

“The skills developed by studying humanities and social science subjects at A level and at university will be essential as we negotiate the challenges the UK faces, from AI to an ageing society and sustainable development.We will need people with insights from law, philosophy, politics and history, as well as from Britain’s outstanding STEM sector.

“The young people receiving their A level results today are the problem-solvers of tomorrow. It is vital that our education system provides them with opportunities to develop a broad range of skills and interests.”

Highlights include:

• The single surviving manuscript of Beowulf, the longest epic poem in Old English
• The earliest autobiography in English, The Book of Margery Kempe
• The Wycliffite Bible, the first complete translation of the Bible in the English language
• William Caxton’s pioneering illustrated print edition of The Canterbury Tales
• The first work authored by a woman in English, Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love
• The earliest work of theatre criticism in English, Tretise of Miraclis Pleyinge
• One of the greatest collections of Scottish medieval verse, the Bannatyne Manuscript from the National Library of Scotland

Bringing together over 50 unique medieval manuscripts and early print editions from the 8th to 16th centuries, Discovering Literature: Medieval presents a new way to explore some of the earliest works and most influential figures of English literature.  From the first complete translation of the Bible in the English language to the first work authored by a woman in English, the website showcases many rarities and ‘firsts’ in the history of English literature.

Featuring extracts of medieval drama, epic poetry, dream visions and riddles alongside over 20 articles exploring themes such as gender, faith and heroism written by poets, academics and writers including Simon Armitage, Hetta Howes and David Crystal, Discovering Literature: Medieval offers unprecedented access to the British Library’s collections and provides contemporary scholarly insight for young people and learners across the world.

Dr Alex Whitfield, Head of Learning Programmes at the British Library, said: ‘Discovering Literature is a fantastic resource, which enables the British Library to open up its collections to a broader audience.  We are always trying to find innovative ways to help learners of all ages engage with the Library’s collections and we are so pleased that such extraordinary collection items and valuable academic insight can now be accessed by anyone, anywhere. Ultimately, we hope that the website will enrich the study and enjoyment of medieval literature for a new generation.’

Dr Claire Breay, Head of Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts at the British Library, said: ‘The British Library’s medieval collections are world-renowned and it’s very exciting to be opening up the Library’s collections of early literary history to young learners through Discovering Literature.  Each item featured on the website has a rich history and it’s fantastic to see the unique manuscripts of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which survived a major fire in the 18th century, showcased on this digital platform for future generations to explore.’

Discovering Literature is a free website aimed at A-Level students, teachers and lifelong learners, which provides unprecedented access to the Library’s literary and historical treasures and has received over 7 million unique visitors since launching in 2014.  The British Library has already published collections relating to Shakespeare and the Renaissance, the Romantic and Victorian periods, and 20th century literature and drama, and will continue to add to the site until it covers the whole rich and diverse backbone of English literature, from The Canterbury Tales to The Buddha of Suburbia.

The project has been generously supported by Dr Naim Dangoor CBE The Exilarch’s Foundation since its inception, along with the British Library Trust and the British Library Patrons. Further development of the project is being supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation, Mark Pigott KBE KStJ, Evalyn Lee, Luci Baines Johnson and Ian Turpin, The American Trust for the British Library, The John S Cohen Foundation, The Andor Trust, and Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust.

According to Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT: “Today is the day when thousands of young people and their families will be hoping that their hard work has paid off. NAHT congratulates everyone receiving their results today. Their emotions will be felt just as much by the school leaders and their teams, who have worked with them throughout the year.

“Across all subjects the proportion of A* and A grades has increased, but in the 13 reformed subjects these outcomes went down. Male students also seem to be closing the attainment gap in the reformed specifications and questions must be asked about why this might be if this continues and more reformed subjects are introduced; perhaps the linear design of the new A levels is better suited to their learning style.

“2017 has been another year of change for school examinations and we have several more years to go before the programme of reforms is complete. We’ve seen AS Level entries fall dramatically because these exams no longer count towards a full A Level. And in many subjects at A Level students’ grades are now entirely dependent on exams at the end of the course. Although nationally A level results appear fairly stable, at school level there will be volatility.

“The important thing, in this period of change, is that everyone with an eye on schools results exercises caution when comparing this year’s data with previous years. It is not a like for like comparison. The context of schools results is complex so any direct comparisons with previous years’ results are unreliable.

“National examinations will never be able to capture all aspects of a student’s progress or all the different ways in which a school contributes to the progress that a student makes. This is why NAHT believes that it is entirely wrong to hold schools to account based on data alone.

“For now, we should celebrate the individual successes of this year’s students and remember to support the pupils who have not got the grades they were hoping for.”

Schools are invited to enter the prize draw here. The first prizewinner will receive 100 free lessons, and the runner-up prizes include 50, 25, and 10 free lessons. The winners of the prize draw are due to be announced on 16^th December 2015, with lessons available to start immediately.

The lessons will be provided by specialist tutors that are individually assigned to best suit the students’ needs and are available from KS2 level through to A-Level. “This is an exciting opportunity for schools to provide additional support for students in the build up to important summer exams”, stated Ben Caulfield, CEO of Maths Doctor.

Winner of ‘Private Tutoring Company 2014’ Education Investor award, Maths Doctor offers bespoke online maths tutoring across the UK, pairing students with fully trained and vetted tutors. Having delivered over 42,000 one-to-one lessons, each student is matched with a tutor that is best suited for their individual needs and all their tutors are CRB/DBS checked. The grade attainment and improvement rates of Maths Doctor students are greater than 90%. For further information, please visit www.mathsdoctor.co.uk/schools/