A-level results day 2023 — Thousands receive LOWER marks as tough grading returns; plus how UCAS clearing works
STUDENTS across the country received their A-level results this morning, as grades fell amid a return to pre-Covid marking.
After hours of studying and exam prep, thousands of young Brits found out if they had received the A-level grades they hoped for and bagged a place at university.
And according to UCAS data, a total of 414,940 applicants gained a place at a university or college - down 2.6% from last year.
In all, over 19,000 UK 18-year-old applicants failed to be accepted into their university of choice and are now eligible to find places in clearing, compared to 15,090 last year and 17,270 in 2019.
Read our Live Blog below for the latest news and updates...
Results 'confirmed our greatest fears', expert claims
Lee Elliot Major, Professor of Social Mobility at the University of Exeter, has said today's results "confirmed our greatest fears" regarding inequality in education.
“This year's results have confirmed our greatest fears - education inequalities have widened in the post-pandemic era, and social mobility has taken a backward step," he said.
“Questions must be asked about the fairness of an examination system that has applied different grade standards to different year cohorts of students but also students in the same year - depending on whether they live in England, Scotland or Wales.
“Increasing numbers of students on free school meals entering university is merely a sign of the rising tide of child poverty.”
What happens if I fail an exam?
There are several options if you fail an exam or don't do as well as you had hoped.
If you were very close to achieving the required grades, you may still be accepted by at least one of your university choices.
First, you should check with your choices to see if you have a place anyway, or have been offered a different course based on your grades.
You can also look into clearing options.
Free appeals can also be made by students who feel they were unfairly marked or there has been an error in their grade calculation.
This can be done via their school, who will then contact the relevant exam board.
Jeremy Clarkson back with his annual A-Level tweet
It’s A-Level results day and you know what that means.
Jeremy Clarkson is back with his annual A-Level tweet to reassure all those who did not get the grades they wanted.
This time, he wrote: “It’s not the end of the world if your A-level results aren’t what you’d hoped for.
“I got a C and 2 Us and here I am today with my own brewery.”
Grades remained above pre-pandemic levels
A-Level grades fell greatly this year when compared to 2022's numbers, but still remained above pre-pandemic levels.
27.2% of UK students achieved an A or A* grade, down by 9.2 percentage points from last year when 36.4% achieved these top grades.
This was still higher than in 2019, however, when 25.4% of entries were awarded A or A* grades.
Education Secretary offers message of support to students
Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, has shared a message of support for students who did not receive the grades they wanted today.
“They won’t ask you anything about your A-level grades in 10 years’ time. They will ask you about other things you have done since then: what you have done in the workplace, what you did at university," Keegan told Sky News.
“And then, after a period of time, they don’t even ask you what you did at university."
Top tips for parents this A-Level results day
Here are some tips to help support your children after receiving those all-important exam results.
- Stay Cool, Calm and Collected. You may feel like you’re just as much of a nervous wreck as the young person in your care, but try not to show it!
- React Carefully and Conscientiously. Remember, your words matter. At times like these, the reactions of a parent or carer can be a huge deal to a young person.
- Discuss Social Media Spin. Remind the young person in your care that, despite how it may seem to them when looking on social media, many people will have mixed emotions about their grades.
- Healthy Sharing Habits. Over-celebrating online may make friends or strangers on social media who are disappointed with their results, feel isolated, sad, disappointed in themselves etc.
- Suggest Celebrating, No Matter the Results. Even if the results weren’t what everyone was hoping for, consider planning an event or activity to acknowledge the hard work and effort put in across the school year.
What are UCAS points?
UCAS points, or Tariff value, translates qualifications into a numerical value.
These can then be compared to other courses and totalled up alongside other A-levels and qualifications.
Universities often use the UCAS points system for their entry requirements.
Most UK qualifications have a UCAS Tariff value, which will vary depending on the qualification size and your grade.
The higher the grade, the greater the number of UCAS points earned.
You can .
Is an E or D a pass at A-level?
E or D grades are a pass at A-Level.
They do, however, result in lower UCAS points.
A pass is indicated by one of six grades, A*, A, B, C, D or E.
A and A* are the highest grades and E is the lowest.
You must get an E grade or above on results day in order to meet the pass criteria.
If a student does not pass, it will show on their results sheet as "Not Classified" or similar.
How much could you get on with your maintenance loan?
Depending on your circumstances you could get up to £13,022 for each academic year.
If you live with your parents, the maximum you can get is £8,400 a year.
If you live away from your parents and outside of London, you can get up to £9,78 a year.
If you are living away from home and study in London, you will get up to £13,022.
And if you spend a year of a UK course studying abroad you could get up to £11,427 a year.
How to appeal your A-level grades
Those applying to higher education who did not attain the offer they accepted as their first choice must appeal by a particular date – so make sure you check any deadlines with exam boards.
You might decide that you’d rather hold off on university and take another crack at getting the results you wanted – and you can do this in a couple of different ways.
If you want to retake the course in the exact same way as you previously did – you can enrol to resit at your school, sixth form or college.
However, if that option doesn’t suit you, you can also enrol on an online course – which will give you a lot more flexibility as you’re not confined to a classroom and set timetable.
Gap between advantaged and disadvantaged grows as results flood in
A-Level results have officially revived and the gap between wealthy and disadvantaged students has grown once again.
According to this morning's UCAS date, for every disadvantaged student, 2.30 advantaged students progress compared with 2.29 last year.
Elsewhere, 1,210 international students have been accepted onto university courses - down 2.3% on last year.
The top three countries/regions with placed applicants are China, India and Hong Kong.
Five hugely successful Brits that didn’t attend university
On the day, your A-level results can seem like the end of the world.
But did you know, some of Britain’s most successful celebrities did not pursue higher education?
- Lord (Alan) Sugar
- Karren Brady
- Simon Cowell
- Sir Richard Branson
- Jeremy Clarkson
Top 10 most popular A-Level subjects
Here are the top 10 most popular subject choices for students in 2023:
- Mathematics
- Psychology
- Biology
- Chemistry
- History
- Sociology
- Business Studies
- Art and Design
- Economics
- Physics
How have A-Level grades changed in recent years?
A-Level grades returned to their pre-Covid numbers this year, after three years of boosted results.
75.4% of students received C's or above in England this year.
This is down from 82.1% in 2022 and a staggering 88.2% in 2021, when no exams were held.
In pictures: Mixed emotions as A-Level results come in
Students across the country received their A-Level results this morning and while some were overjoyed, others were clearly disappointed.
UCAS chief congratulates students
The UCAS boss has praised students for their hard work as A-Level results flood in this morning.
Clare Marchant, UCAS chief executive, said: "Firstly, I want to say a huge congratulations to the hundreds of thousands of students up and down the country who are celebrating their results and next steps today.
"I am delighted to see more than 200,000 UK 18-year-olds have secured their first choice, which is testament to their hard work and commitment to progress to higher education in a year that has seen many complex factors at play, such as geopolitics, the economy and job market, and cost of living.
"However, today's data shows that challenges in widening participation to the most disadvantaged students still persist. This demonstrates that we all need to continue the efforts to ensure the most disadvantaged individuals in society are able to benefit from life-changing opportunities in higher education and training, particularly as the 18-year-old population grows."
She added: "For anyone who may not have got the results they were hoping for, or for those applicants who want to change their mind, there is plenty of choice in clearing with nearly 29,000 courses and 8,000 apprenticeships currently available.
"We also have a team of advisers hard at work to provide students with expert information, advice and guidance on the phones, social media, and on ucas.com."
Falling grades could be a 'blow for students'
Geoff Barton, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the worse results would be a blow to teenagers.
He said: "This adjustment is a return to normality after the pandemic which necessitated the use of different approaches to grading.
"Whatever the rationale, however, it will feel like a bruising experience for many students, as well as schools and colleges which will have seen a sharp dip in top grades compared to the past three years."
Key developments as A-Level grades are released
- The gap between richer and poor teens going to university slightly increased
- International students fell back although China grabbed the most uni spots
- Economics surged in popularity to knock Geography out of the top 10 A Levels
- The UCAS website crashed this morning leaving students awaiting their fate
- 30 per cent of results in London were A or A* - compared to 22 per cent in the North East
A-level results worst in four years with top grades down and a massive scramble for uni clearing places
Pupils are receiving the worst A-Level results in four years today - with thousands scrambling to grab leftover university places after missing out on their first choices.
Marks have fallen back to 2019 levels after pandemic-era teacher assessments were ditched and normal exams were brought back.
It means the number of entries awarded an A or A* plunged 9.2 per to 27.2 per cent compared to 36.4 per cent last year- a drop of 73,000 top grades.
All you need to know about apprenticeships
Apprenticeships are where you spend 80 per cent of your time in a job and 20 per cent in the classroom are becoming ever more attractive options.
You can do them in all sorts of subjects, from digital marketing to law and HR.
You get a qualification as well as a salary. Research shows 79 per cent of employers do not look for a degree for their entry-level positions.
They value resilience, enthusiasm and learning agility.
Check out websites , and
A-Level students had 'a lot to deal with' claims Education Secretary
The Education Secretary has claimed 2023's A-levels students had "a lot to deal with" and had shown "incredible resilience" as shared a message of support on results day.
Gillian Keegan added UCAS figures showed the UK Government was "right to put the grading system back to normal".
Speaking BBC Radio 4's Today programme she said: "We've just had the UCAS figures out... which is that 79% of those students receiving their results today got their first choice of university. And that is up from 74% in 2019.
"And the great news is that 16,500 students on free school meals gained a place at university, which is a 60% increase from 2019 and 14% up from last year.
"So in terms of destinations, this cohort has done incredibly well and most of them - 79% - have actually got their first choice of university.
"So hopefully that will lead everybody to understand that we were right to put the grading system back to normal. The university admissions officers know how to deal with these differences, they know how to deal with the difference from previous cohorts and they also know how to deal with differences between the English system and the Welsh, Northern Irish and Scottish."
Rishi Sunak responds to Jeremy Clarkson's annual A-Level tweet as results flood in
Rishi Sunak has responded to Jeremy Clarkson's annual A-Level tweet with a message of support for all the students getting their grades.
Replying to Clarkson, the PM wrote: "Jeremy has made a career of being the exception not the rule but he does have a good point here:
"Results day is important, but not necessarily a deal-breaker. Whatever results you got today, there are lots of options available to you."
He went on to share several pathways for young Brits to take after school, including apprenticeship schemes and clearing.
UCAS login nightmare as website CRASHES on A-Level results day
A University website is said to have crashed as millions of students have today logged in to find out their A-Level results.
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) website is reportedly down, as youngsters frantically tried to see if they'd passed their exams.
The grades were set to be released today, with a fifth of students likely to hit their predicted level after exams replaced teacher assessments.
The UCAS system, which is used to track university applications, was due to update from 8am on Thursday.
Youngsters rushed to Twitter to complain about the website reportedly crashing.
Results paint a 'very positive picture' says UCAS boss
UCAS chief executive Clare Marchant has said A-level results have been a "very positive picture" and praised a cohort of students who are sitting external exams for the first time.
The CEO told the Today programme there has been a slight drop in the number of students getting a place at their first choice university.
Ms Marchant said that 79% of students had got their first choice at university meaning that they can "just go out and celebrate".
She said: "Yes, a slight drop from last year, which is what we expected as we return to the normal grading but again significantly up from the 74% back in 2019 and that is what we expected."When asked about what advice she had for students who didn't get their first choice should do she added: "Just think about your next step. We have got 29,000 courses in clearing as I sit here today and around 8,000 apprenticeships on UCAS.
"There is plenty of choice. The really key thing if you're students or a parent, or guardian, is to just take a little bit of time. If you haven't already done the research to think through what's right for you.
How to check which courses are available on clearing
UCAS has an on its website which is updated regularly.
Some positions may become vacant later so do keep checking.
Good luck!
