Summary
And with that, we have come to the end of another A-level results day live blog. We hope you have found our coverage enjoyable, informative and edifying. Here’s a quick summary of the day’s main news points:
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The proportion of top marks awarded at A-level has risen overall for the first time in six years. In the bulk of subjects the proportion of A and A* grades awarded went up to 26.3%, a rise of half a percentage point compared with 2016.
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More boys got top grades than girls for first time in at least seven years. Boys gained 26.6% A and A*, compared with 26.1% for girls. Last year 25.7% of boys were awarded A and A*s – 0.3 points below girls.
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Overall the pass rate in the A*-E grades fell 0.2 points to 97.9%, with a larger fall among the reformed subjects of 0.5 percentage points.
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Performance in English subjects was down. The proportion of students achieving a C grade or better in English Literature, English Language, and English Language and Literature was almost 3 percentage points down on last year
- Results day university acceptances were down 2%, but is still the second highest number recorded, according to Ucas. Overall, 416,310 students have been accepted at UK universities and colleges so far this year, of whom 201,270 are 18.
If you’re a student celebrating our commiserating over your grades, we hope you enjoy the rest of the day. And if you’re a teacher or education professional, we’ll see you again next year.
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Incoming students: you can follow the Guardian’s Students network on Twitter and Facebook for university advice, news, videos, blogs and competitions.
And if you have something to say about the pressing issues of life on campus – from fees to face time, from deadlines to distractions – you can also pitch us a blog:
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We heard from an exam marker about getting through papers this year. If you were also an examiner, tell us your stories here.
Anonymous examiner: I am fairly sure I over-mark and annotate scripts too heavily
Last year (first year through new AS) I felt very well supported and that the exam board were ready for our questions ... This year I felt quite alone. There was no webinar before marking – we went straight into the standardisation. I find (personally) the standardisation scripts are very poorly annotated and I can’t always clearly see how a grade has been allocated to the content in a script.
I am fairly sure I over-mark and annotate scripts too heavily, but it helps me keep track during long scripts so I can be as consistent as possible. I feel the board are often too harsh on the upper end when answers are really sophisticated and should get top band, and often too generous on the lower and middle. Despite occasionally being out by a few marks on seeds, I give detailed feedback in my annotations on how I have arrived at a grade. I have been awarded an A grade as an examiner in previous years.
I enjoyed marking the new AS last year, and AS and A-level this year. It has forced me to improve my subject knowledge across plays and novels I don’t teach. It has made me very aware of the ... mark weighting of each one so that I can build it in to my own planning and teaching. I don’t particularly enjoy the online system which is glitchy at times, and staring at a screen is draining, but it is what it is. I am likely to continue marking regardless of the online system.
People on Twitter sure love to give advice – #UniAdvice is currently trending:
#uniadvice don't buy any books until you're sure you actually need to, check the library and ask students in the year above if you need them
— Lauren Doherty ☘️ (@_laurendoherty_) August 17, 2017
Universities usually give you a free copy of the software you need, as a student. Check on the uni site. #UniAdvice
— Rizwaan (@RizwaanAkhtar91) August 17, 2017
Freshers Week is overrated, it's 100% okay if you don't feel settled in and fitted in straight away. Don't give up too early!! #UniAdvice
— Claire❤ (@ClaireAndCare) August 17, 2017
When you leave for holidays, check your fridge. Nothing worse than having a milk 4 weeks out of date😷 #UniAdvice
— Heather (@HeatherMayy_) August 17, 2017
If you can't find friends don't wait for some to drop into your lap. Get active & meet people.
— Baurence (@LarryCK) August 17, 2017
Lectures, seminars & societies.#UniAdvice
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Pupils at Kensington Aldridge academy in west London, which lost five pupils in the fire that swept through Grenfell Tower, were today celebrating some “exceptional” AS results in what has been a very challenging year.
Many pupils who fled the fire on 14 June turned up to a hastily reorganised exam hall to sit an AS paper in maths. Today’s results put the school in the top 10% of UK schools for so-called “value added”, with students getting on average one grade higher than national expectations.
A statement from the school said 42% of all entries were As and Bs with exceptional performance in English, history, French, and religious studies. “These results would be important in any year, but coming so shortly after Grenfell they are particularly welcome.
“This remains a very difficult time for our community but our exam success shows that, even in very difficult circumstances, our students and staff are resilient and capable of achieving the very best.”
Head boy Kai Chappell said: “I’m really happy and proud of my results day – and there are lots of smiling faces around today which is really great to see.”
Amin Hashemi added: “I’m so happy with my results, especially given the difficult circumstances. I can’t wait to tell my mum.
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The Press Association’s Ryan Hooper reports that exam boards are working to ensure students who do not identify as either male or female do not feel left out when A-level results are published.
Currently, exam entries are broken down into just two categories - male and female candidates. But exam bosses said conversations are taking place with the charity Stonewall to address the growing need to reflect societal change.
Sharon Hague, senior vice president of Pearson, which runs the Edexcel exam board, said:
This is something that young people feel strongly about.
Exam boards do have a process for making sure students who receive their qualification, should they identify in a different way, their qualification can be changed and updated to reflect that.
We’re working with Stonewall to reflect that in the way we capture information in the future.
We don’t do that currently, but it is something we are looking at.
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Our reporter Amelia Hill has written the full story behind Malala Yousafzai’s A-level results and her award of a place to study PPE at Oxford this September.
Five years ago, the Taliban shot Malala Yousafzai in the head for advocating the right of girls to be educated. Now she has won a place at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, to study philosophy, politics and economics, or PPE.
The 20-year-old Nobel peace prize winner tweeted a screenshot of the confirmation and said: “So excited to go to Oxford!! Well done to all A-level students – the hardest year. Best wishes for life ahead!”
Alan Rusbridger, the principal of Lady Margaret Hall, whose alumni include one of her heroes, the former Pakistani president Benazir Bhutto, tweeted his welcome to Yousafzai.
Yousafzai comes from the Swat valley, an area in north-west Pakistan which has periodically banned girls from attending school. When the Taliban were driven out of the region in 2012, Yousafzai stepped up her campaign for girls to be allowed to go to school.
Her persistence and the growing prominence of her activism – she had blogged anonymously for BBC Urdu when she was just 11 in 2009 – prompted the Taliban to hold a meeting in 2012 at which they unanimously agreed to murder her.
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'I was sleep deprived and slightly delirious, but absolutely overwhelmed'
My AS year was a year overflowing with an overwhelming work load, staying in the library until ridiculous hours, and eventually resulted in stress-eating waffles at 4am the night before Results Day. Results day is possibly the most nerve wracking day of the entire calendar, and at 8am today, I was preparing myself to receive three AS grades, and one A-Level grade, as I had had to complete my German A-level in a year, due to sixth form funding cuts and a lack of intake.
The moment the email arrived in my inbox, I was sleep deprived and slightly delirious, but absolutely overwhelmed to find that the long hours and the effort had paid off, with 3 As in my AS Levels, and an A* in the German. It’s moments like this, where the stress of being a guinea pig for the new AS levels and just generally the anxiety of being a sixth form student in 2017 pays off.
But then the results day etiquette comes into play – you don’t want to look nosy about other people’s results, but you don’t want to look like you don’t care. You’re gutted for the friends who didn’t get the grades they wanted, but you’re still really proud of the hard work finally paying off, proving to yourself that you’re capable. It shouldn’t have to take a set of exam results to validate us as students, but sadly that’s how it is. The stress doesn’t stop now, either – it’s straight on with personal statements, filling in forms for Ucas, and trying to figure out how on earth to get your life together today. But for now, I’m just going to enjoy the fact that making myself into a revision-obsessed, pyjamas-every-day, stay-at-home hermit really did pay off!
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There are the kids who get superlative A-level results on their birthday and then there’s the twins who get superlative A-level results - so brace yourself for the twins who get superlative results on their birthday.
Beren and Chester Wilkinson from Gosford Hill School, a state secondary in Oxfordshire, managed just that today. Beren collecting three A*s and a place at Oxford University for his 18th birthday present. The pair were among the two-thirds of pupils at the school who gained A*s in maths.
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Here are some pictures of students across the country as they receive their A-level results and higher education offers:
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Worst year for English results since 2012
The proportion of students achieving a C grade or better in combined English subjects (an umbrella term for English Literature, English Language, and English Language and Literature) was almost 3% down on last year, with 78% of students achieving A*-C grades in 2017 compared to 80.8% in 2016 – making this the worst year for English results since 2012.
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Some people who submitted stories to us spoke of the pressure on young people today and also the difficulties of sitting the new exams. You can share your stories with us here.
Joe Foye, 18, from Chichester: ‘There is so much pressure on young people – but exams don’t define you’
Generally people in my school were fairly happy with their results today but some felt hard done by as they didn’t get what they were capable of – maybe due to the new system.
People were mainly relieved it’s over. It has taken its toll, the pressure on young people now is incredible.
I was very nervous going in to get my results as I hadn’t checked Ucas Track because if I hadn’t got what I wanted then I didn’t want to have to wait to find out why.
It was a little odd knowing that all the teachers knew my grades, but they were being positive so I wasn’t too worried. I was so stressed that when I first opened the envelope ... Once I realised I got what I wanted it was such a relief. I’d managed to achieve A*s in English literature, biology and law. It was difficult knowing some of my friends didn’t get their grades, especially because so much pressure is put on people, and it can feel as if these exams define you as an individual - which is definitely not the case.
The reforms to the new A-levels have been done badly. There’s no way around it. There was a complete lack of revision materials, especially past papers. While in some subjects like biology the old specification can be used, in English we had to make up our own questions and had no idea how we should be marking them.
The exam boards were very unhelpful, particularly with the English non-examined assessment (basically coursework). Our teachers were not allowed to provide any substantial feedback on our works, which seems to undermine the learning process, as there is no opportunity for development or improving.
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This year, several subjects with large gender gaps in A*-C grades were reformed with the hope that the gap between boys and girls’ performance would narrow. And across the subjects looked at, the gender gap has narrowed - although not substantially across all subjects.
The biggest shift was in Physics, where the gap between boys and girls’ performance was narrowed by 2.5%. But the figures for Chemistry, while relatively marginal numbers, also are interesting - last year 0.2% more girls got A*-C grades than boys but that trend has now reversed with 0.2% more boys getting A*-C grades than girls.
Reforming Psychology does not seem to have had a big impact though - while the gap has narrowed by 1.5%, girls are still more than 10% likely to achieve an A*-C grade than boys taking the subject.
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For a lot of A-level students, today is going to be a day of rapid plan changing as they try to find a university place to fit their grades. Our reporter Nadia Khomami has been at the clearing call centre at Coventry University to find out how it works.
The phones don’t stop ringing in a large office at one of Coventry University’s faculties. The hubbub of several conversations going on at once and number of TV screens showing live graphs creates a sense of urgency akin to a mini stock exchange.
It is from here and several other rooms identical to it, on A-level results day, that hundreds of university volunteers take calls from students as part of the clearing process.
“We’re taking calls from any candidates who want to find a course here,” says Alison Rowland, one of the university’s media and external affairs employees who is helping out on the clearing hotline.
“Today I’ve taken calls from candidates who meet our requirements and those who have just fallen short, and I’m just screening them and putting them through to the faculty so they can talk to someone who’s an expert in the subject they study.”
The way it works is that the volunteers take a student’s UCAS number and put it into a system so that their information comes up on the screen. “We take details of the course and if the student’s qualifications meet requirements we put them through, if they haven’t we offer them a different option - like a related course or a different campus,” Rowland says.
Sometimes the student meets the requirements but is unsure of the university, at which point the volunteer will list a number of unique selling points for the institution. The graphs track how many offers have been issued per hour.
Rachel Drinkwater, who normally works in IT, explains that volunteers have done several test runs prior to today. “We’ve had packs that give us scripts on how to deal with certain scenarios, we’ve had mock calls, done a bit of role play. It’s about getting familiar with the equipment and environment, because it’s a high pressure thing, we’re the first port of call, and how we represent the university is important.”
While the proportion of top A level grades rose this year, the number of university places allocated fell, with tens of thousands of places still available on clearing day. The UCAS university admissions body said on Wednesday 416,000 places had been confirmed so far - down 2% on last year.
This has created what has been dubbed a “buyers market”, where more options are available to students looking for university places.
Coventry - one of the group of former polytechnics that became a university in 1992 - is now one of the fastest-growing universities in the UK, with around 30,000 students. It was awarded a gold rating in this year’s first Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), which measures the quality of teaching at UK universities, and ranked 12th in the Guardian University Guide 2018, its highest-ever placing, making it the highest-ranked former polytechnic in the guide and putting it ahead of many Russell Group universities. So demand is high.
Liz Murphy, who is in charge of recruitment for the engineering faculty, said the university placed a lot of emphasis on “soft information gathering” for its clearing process. “We train our academics to listen to the student, to really ask them what they want and why they’re interested in a course. Sometimes they come through and they’re quite emotional. But it’s very much an advice and support moment, it’s about fit.
“I’ve worked in 10 other universities, and in my experience clearing has been a high-pressure sales environment, I’ve seen librarians and office staff say ‘right, you’ve got three Cs - you’re in’. That’s not what we do here, there’s an integrity to it.”
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Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett has some social media advice for A-level students today:
By all means celebrate – you’ve worked hard as a guinea pig in what amounts to an untested new exam system – but spare a thought for those who haven’t done as well as they hoped today. And also bear in mind that, though it might feel like it, life isn’t some linear track on to which you are now irrevocably attached, always moving forwards, onwards, upwards. There’ll be setbacks too. Of the friends I celebrated results day with 12 years ago, quite a few switched courses or dropped out. Some of us ended up in places we never thought we would, myself included, as I write this.
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Looking at the most popular subjects, only 2.9% of students sitting English Literature achieved an A* this year. The highest grade also appeared elusive for students studying Psychology and Sociology, in which fewer than than 5% of entrants came away with an A*. Students taking Maths and art and design subjects fared much better, with more than one in six Maths students and one in eight art and design students seeing stars.
More boys get top grades than girls for first time in at least seven years
This year’s A-level results seem to suggest the tide could be starting to turn on the relative performance of boys and girls, Sally Weale, Richard Adams and Helena Bengtsson write.
After years’ of improving attainment by girls, early indications suggest boys seem finally to be starting to claw their way back and one of the key factors could be the reintroduction of end-of-year exams as part of the A-level reforms.
Traditionally end of course exams have been regarded as favourable to boys. When modular qualifications were introduced in 2002, girls’ performance began to climb - a trend which has continued.
Ahead of results day, the speculation has been that with the reintroduction of end-of-course exams, that could be reversed and the performance of boys may start to improve. And so they have. This year, for the first time in at least seven years, boys across the UK in all subjects outperformed girls in achieving A-A* grades, gaining 26.6% A and A*, compared with 26.1% for girls. Last year 25.7% of boys were awarded A and A*s – 0.3 points below girls.
In England specifically, boys coped better with the introduction of new, linear A-levels. While among b0th boys and girls, 24.3% were awarded either A or A*, the figures actually represent a significant decline for girls. The proportion of girls gaining A and above fell by 1.1 percentage points, compared to 2016, while the boys’ results held up far better.
We will have a full version of this analysis up soon.
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According to Ucas, this year sees a 0.4% increase in university places for 18-year-old students from areas with the lowest entry rates to higher education.
Prof Les Ebdon, director of Fair Access to Higher Education, says:
I am delighted that there has, once again, been a rise in the number of young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds getting the grades they need to secure places in higher education. These students have overcome barriers that many others do not face, and I applaud their effort and dedication.
Unfortunately, some young people have picked up exam results today that do not reflect their full potential, because they have been held back by socio-economic or educational disadvantage. All children deserve to get the support they need to overcome any and all barriers of circumstance. Universities and colleges have a key role to play in working with schools to provide support.
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More than 30% of students taking further maths earned an A* this year, up slightly on last year, while 17.9% taking mathematics also saw stars.
A high proportion of language students managed to attain the highest grade, including those sitting French, German, and other modern languages (an umbrella term which encompasses languages including Italian, Japanese and Mandarin)
Art and design subjects also featured, with one in eight students receiving an A* grade.
Maths was the most popular subject again this year, with more than 95,000 students sitting Maths A-level. Science subjects, History and English Literature were also popular.
Tougher A-levels? Not at Westminster School, the famous independent school in London, which boasted “our best results yet”. Some 57% of entries at the school got A*, while 86% got A* and A. And 40 pupils got four A* grades.
“Many congratulations to all our pupils who worked with such dedication and spirit to do so well,” the school coolly notes on its website.
Just £26,000 a year for day pupils.
Westminster pupils have secured 56.8% of their A-Level/PreU grades at A* and 85.9% at A/A*
— Westminster School (@wschool) August 17, 2017
Many congratulations to all! @HMC #alevelresults pic.twitter.com/3dVX6Tg2Br
Concern over fall in numbers taking foreign languages
While the top A-level grades awarded in modern foreign languages has risen this year, the British Council is concerned at the continuing falls in the numbers sitting the subjects at A-level.
The number of pupils taking French exams fell by 2.1% compared with 2016, with a 4.7% decrease in the numbers sitting German. However, the number of pupils taking Spanish has increased by 1.7%.
Mark Herbert, head of schools programmes at the British Council, said: “The on-going decline of French and German – languages that are highly valued by many employers – is a particular concern with numbers being less than a third of what they were 20 years ago.
“And while it is great to see an upturn in Spanish and in some less traditional languages such as Chinese and Arabic – all languages that matter to the UK economy - this sadly isn’t enough to compensate for the general downturn.
“The reality is that as the UK comes to reposition itself on the world stage, languages matter now more than ever. Learning another language isn’t just a rewarding way to connect with another culture but it boosts job prospects too. It is vital that we encourage far more young people to develop their language skills both now and in the future.”
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The title speaks for itself in these video medley of interviews with youngsters picking up their results today.
As we know most teenagers look to the Confederation of British Industry for careers advice, so here’s Pippa Morgan, the CBI’s head of education and skills policy:
There is a whole range of fantastic opportunities available from college or university courses, to high-quality apprenticeships that help build skills and careers. That’s why it’s so important that young people get good advice about the whole world of options available.
As valuable as exam results are, they are one of several factors that employers look for when hiring. Businesses value young people with positive attitudes to work and their career – as those people so often succeed in any field they pursue.
We have had some success stories in through our call out - you can keep sharing your news with us here.
Dominik S, 18, from Bedford
I was really stressed out for months about the exams this year but I got A*s in history, English language and literature and business studies.
I am from Poland originally and moved here five years ago. I thought the exams would be harder for me personally because English is not my first language but I am proud of my achievements.
I studied English in Poland as a second language so I had some basis when I moved here. I spent my first months in the country with a dictionary and doing my own work at home using the internet. In my first year I managed to learn English at such a level that I could absorb my subject knowledge. I’ve chosen to go on a school leaver programme at one of the Big Four accountancy firms.
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Big improvement in results in Wales
In Wales there was a much improved set of results after last year’s disappointing efforts. While just 22.7% of candidates received A or A*s in 2016, this year the proportion rose to 25%, helped by stronger results among boys.
The proportion of students in Wales awarded A*-C grades rose above 75%, the highest since 2009.
“These set of results show an encouraging increase in the number achieving the top grades, with improvement in results across maths, biology, chemistry and physics,” Kirsty Williams, the Welsh education secretary, said during a visit to a school in Newport this morning.
The results were the first for 14 reformed A-level subjects in Wales, with overhauled content but retaining integrated AS-level exams at the end of the first year.
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The Guardian’s former editor-in-chief, Alan Rusbridger, now principle of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, has tweeted his welcome to Malala Yousafzai.
Malala’s place at the college was conditional on her achieving three As at A-level.
Welcome to @lmhoxford, Malala! https://t.co/npVlfvgqwu
— alan rusbridger (@arusbridger) August 17, 2017
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Twitter is naturally handling results day very well.
it feels like christmas day except santa's brought me an existential crisis #alevelresultsday
— beth (@bethanyterris) August 17, 2017
On my way to collect the envelope of death #alevelresultsday
— •Kiera~Rose• (@kiera_lowe) August 17, 2017
Can't fail if you don't get your results #alevelresultsday pic.twitter.com/crT5nJ6lPu
— Lloyd Davies (@LloydSDavies26) August 17, 2017
pretty much sums it up #alevelresultsday pic.twitter.com/EiSiuOYMtV
— Ty (@TylarFullwood) August 17, 2017
The A-level results explained in charts
The proportion of A-level students achieving an A* or A grade in the 2017 exams has increased by 0.5%, although these grades were still below that achieved by students taking their A-levels between 2010 and 2012.
For the first time, boys have outperformed girls in achieving an A* or A grade. 26.6% of boys have got an A* or A grade in the 2017 exams, compared to 26.1% of girls.
Compare this to last year’s A-level results and the improvement in boys’ grades is even more remarkable. The proportion of boys achieving an A* or A has increased by 0.9% whereas the proportion of girls achieving an A* of A has increased - but by only 0.1%.
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After headlines highlighting a rise in the proportion of top marks awarded to A-level students, the head of the headteachers’ union has urged caution in comparing this with previous years. Changes to the A-level syllabus and structure mean that such comparisons are “unreliable”, said Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers.
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.
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The government has hailed increasing entries to science, technology, engineering and maths subjects as “bod[ing] well for the economic prosperity of our country,” in its comment on A-level results. The focus on so-called STEM subjects has been a cornerstone of British education policy for some years now.
The minister for school standards, Nick Gibb, said:
Congratulations to everyone receiving their results today, which are the culmination of two years of dedication and hard work. We want everyone, regardless of background, to be able to fulfil their potential and for many, A-levels are the pathway to a university degree.
The increase in entries to facilitating subjects, those that give students the greatest choice of options at university, mean even more young people will have access to all the opportunities higher education provides.
There has been a strong uptake in core subjects, such as maths, which continues to be the most popular A-level with maths and further maths having nearly 25 per cent more entries than in 2010. This and increasing entries to science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects bodes well for the economic prosperity of our country. It will help to grow our workforce in these sectors, allowing young people to secure well paid jobs and compete in the global jobs market of post-Brexit Britain.
Increasing the number of girls studying STEM subjects has been an important objective of the Government, so it is particularly pleasing to see that more young women are taking STEM subjects and that for the first time since 2004 there are more young women than young men studying chemistry. I hope everyone receiving their results will go on to successful careers.”
But do see the earlier comment from the British Academy, which has expressed concern at a fall in the number of students taking humanities A-levels.
The party is starting for A-level students who are receiving their results this morning.
In this clip from Good Morning Britain you can see a flash of one swigging from a hip flask. Enjoy your day - but remember, there’ll be plenty more drinking to do once you get to university …
Some student celebrating A-levels the only way he should live on @GMB #GMB #alevelresultsday #swig pic.twitter.com/F3OzeXmwvp
— David Filipe (@david_filipe) August 17, 2017
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Didn’t get the grades you needed? If you missed out on all your university offers, you can get a second chance to apply via Ucas Clearing. There’s lots of advice and stories to read in this year’s Clearing supplement.
First rise in top A-level grades in six years
The proportion of top marks awarded at A-level has risen overall for the first time in six years and boys did better than girls at gaining A and A* grades, our reporters write.
The published national results of 2017’s exams show that in the bulk of subjects the proportion of A and A* grades awarded went up to 26.3%, a rise of half a percentage point compared with 2016.
But students taking the new group of tougher reformed exam subjects such as English, history and sciences saw their chances of top grades recede.
Experts from the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) – which represents the exam boards – said it was “not possible to draw accurate conclusions at this stage” for the different directions of the two groups of A-levels, but said the results could be influenced by a weaker track record among this year’s students taking individual subjects.
In the reformed subjects tested in England for the first time this summer sixth formers had fewer top grades, with A and A*s down by 0.7 percentage points compared with 2016.
The two sets of exams showed wide variation in the relative performance of boys and girls. Overall, for the first time in at least seven years, boys outperformed girls in achieving A-A* grades, gaining 26.6% A and A*, compared with 26.1% for girls. Last year 25.7% of boys were awarded A and A*s – 0.3 points below girls.
However, in the reformed subjects girls did better, with 7.3% awarded the highest A* grade compared with 7% of boys, while the A and A* grades combined were the same for both at 24.3%.
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Among the students celebrating their university acceptances this morning is one very special young woman.
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani women’s rights activist and youngest-ever Nobel prize laureate has sent a tweet celebrating her confirmation of a place at Oxford University to study politics, philosophy and economics - the course of choice for aspiring politicians.
So excited to go to Oxford!! Well done to all A-level students - the hardest year. Best wishes for life ahead! pic.twitter.com/miIwK6fNSf
— Malala (@Malala) August 17, 2017
In February we published a long read about PPE, “the Oxford degree that runs Britain”. It’s worth taking a look at.
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The British Academy - the UK’s national body for humanities and social sciences - says it is concerned at the fall in the numbers of students taking A-levels in humanities subjects such as English and History.
With the government encouraging youngsters to study science, technology, engineering and maths-related subjects (the so-called Stem subjects that are said to be essential for British economic competitiveness), entries for English and History were down 5.6% and 6.8% respectively.
University applications in humanities remain stable, but the academy says it is concerned that the decline in numbers taking the subjects at A-level may eventually be reflected in undergraduate numbers.
David Cannadine, president of the British Academy, said:
Studying subjects such as History puts the whole of human experience in context and help us to understand cultures, societies and why humans behave as they do. There is not a challenge facing the world today which can be solved by looking through a scientific lens alone.
What’s more, the sorts of skills that students gain from studying subjects such as English and History are vital to our future prosperity, especially in a world of ever-more complicated international engagement and with Brexit looming. Skills such as the ability to appraise evidence critically, to persuade, negotiate, and unravel complexity will be crucial. International examples show that a broad curriculum allows school-leavers to develop a wide range of skills and interests. We shouldn’t force students down a narrow path at a time when they should be expanding their perspectives.
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As noted below, a growing number of students are entering university with BTecs rather than the traditional A-level qualifications. In a blog published today on our Higher Education Network, Dave Seaton, head of student recruitment at the University of Bedfordshire, calls for institutions to adapt to support them
For many businesses, August is a quiet time. It’s definitely not so for universities. A frenzy of activity leading up to A-level results day is building, now that clearing is of increasing importance to university balance sheets. But A-level students aren’t the only pool to recruit from; there are growing numbers of potential applicants holding BTec qualifications.
According to the Social Market Foundation, the number of students with BTec qualifications entering university was 50,000 in 2008, but now stands at 100,000. That’s one in four of all students going to university. It is a significant applicant pool that merits special attention.
The SMF research shows that BTecs are popular among young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in particular. The combination of a BTec and a degree also offers a sizeable wage premium. Their recruitment will help universities looking to widen participation and improve graduate outcomes.
One of the concerns for many universities taking on students with BTecs is how they will manage the transition to university. But this is overstated – it can be hard for all students, irrespective of qualification route and background. Lectures, the responsibilities of independent study and the predominance of seminars will be new for everyone. That said, BTec students are likley to have had a different classroom experience to A-level students, so universities can’t offer a “one size only” approach to teaching and learning support.
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It’s perhaps the toughest ever recruitment season for universities – so they can use all the help they can get on their Clearing hotlines. Even Sir Lenny Henry’s getting stuck in at Birmingham City University as their chancellor.
He said: “Starting higher education had a transformative impact on me, and for many students Clearing will be the first steps they take on that journey.”
We have just launched our A-level results form, where you can share your experiences. How did you do? What is the mood at your school today? How did you find the new exam system? Let us know about the day here and we will use your responses in our reporting.
'Modest decrease' in BTec top grades
There has been a “modest decrease” in the number of top grades awarded to BTec students, according to the education and publishing company Pearson.
More than 100,000 BTec students are estimated to be heading to university this year and approximately one in four university students will have a BTec, according to preliminary data collected by the company.
More than 250,000 Level 3 students (A-level equivalent) have completed their qualifications so far this year, Pearson says. This year, for the first time, a small number of BTec students will be picking up their results at the same time as A-level students, most of whom will be starting jobs in the autumn.
The provisional data indicates the five most popular BTecs studied this year are:
- Business (35,000 students)
- Health and Social Care (30,600)
- Sport (30,500)
- Information Technology (28,600)
- Applied science (22,900)
Rod Bristow, president of Pearson in the UK, said:
Today is a day we rightly celebrate the success of our A-level students, and I wish them every success as they prepare for higher education.
But today we are also celebrating the fact that a quarter of students who will go to university in the autumn will have studied a BTec qualification - either a BTec alone or through a combination of BTec and A-levels, which is now the fastest growing route into university.
We know that BTec‘s blend of academic and technical study is a winning combination, and gives students the skills we know that employers want.
The progression of BTec students to university makes a contribution towards social mobility, as BTec students also tend to be more representative of the wider population than A-level students, who are more likely to be drawn from more advantaged socio-economic groups.
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University won’t always be the next step for sixth-formers after results day. Last week, our student blogger Aisling Wood explained why she decided to turn down all five of her uni offers:
Money worries are certainly a factor, and this type of learning isn’t for everyone. But I mainly declined my offers because I’m not ready for university, and I don’t know if I ever will be – and that’s OK. I know that choosing not to attend university doesn’t mean I won’t have opportunities or be able to challenge myself.
My next steps will include pursuing the two things I love most: journalism and photography. My education certainly hasn’t ended – getting into a career is bound to include vocational experience and training. I haven’t shut the door, just opened another.
You can read her blog in full here:
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Results day university acceptances down 2%
The number of students accepted on A-level results day is down 2% compared to 2016, but is the second highest number recorded, Ucas has announced.
Overall, 416,310 students have been accepted at UK universities and colleges so far this year, of whom 201,270 are 18, a similar level to last year, and the highest number recorded on A-level results day.
The puts the percentage of 18-year-olds in the population securing a place in university and college in England at 27.5%, with the rate in Northern Ireland 28.3%, Scotland 24.9%, and Wales 24.8%.
According to Ucas, the decrease in the number of university acceptances has been driven by a fall in acceptances from older students, and fewer students from the European Union.
Clare Marchant, the chief executive of Ucas, said:
Congratulations to everyone who has received good news today. On behalf of everyone at Ucas, well done and best of luck for your studies.
If you have not done as well as you had hoped, try not to worry – you have plenty of options, and every year many people who have missed out on their grades find high quality and rewarding courses through Clearing.
Make sure you take some time to think about what you want to do next, and seek advice from those who know you best – parents, teachers, and friends.
If you decide you want to start a degree this year, Ucas can offer all the support you need. You can search around 45,000 courses with clearing vacancies on ucas.com – you’ll need to contact universities and colleges directly to discuss the courses you’re interested in before deciding if you want to accept an offer.
To all those who do secure a place, remember you are embarking on a fantastic, life-enriching stage of your education. You will make friends and memories that will last a lifetime, and have the chance to learn in a world-leading education sector. Take all the opportunities that come your way, and enjoy the experience.
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No matter your grades, we want to hear your experiences of the day. Did you achieve what you expected or do you need to change your plans? Do you want to share a success story with us?
You can share stories by clicking on the ‘Contribute’ button on this article. You can also use the Guardian app and search for “GuardianWitness assignments”. We’d like to see photos too – and do make sure you include important details, like the name of your school, in the description box.
For those anticipating less-than-amazing results today, it can be a stressful time. A-levels are often pitched to students like they will determine the entire future of their lives, and yet poor results are not the end of the world.
On Tuesday we published the stories of five people whose results did not meet their expectations, who told us how they had gone on to enjoy personal success despite their disappointment. Read on and be reassured:
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Today is A-level results day, when tens of thousands of teenagers around the country will find out the grades that will determine whether they go to university and where.
As soon as they manage to drag themselves out of bed, sixth-formers across Britain will be anxiously awaiting their results, though email and remote log-ins have replaced the traditional envelope from this year.
Students have complained of extra stress from sitting new, untested qualifications this summer for which many felt ill prepared, with no past papers, no mark schemes and no clarity about grade boundaries.
Many complained that the changes had been rushed, with teachers and students struggling to master new syllabuses, hindered by few sparse materials and out-of-date textbooks. The pressure was compounded by the fact that the new qualifications are solely assessed on end-of-year exams, rather than coursework and AS-levels halfway through.
Ministers and teachers will also be watching the results closely, in particular for changes in the share of A and A* grades, which has fallen in the past five years. The proportion of top grades awarded in 2011 was 27%, but by last year that slid to 25.8%.
Nevertheless, Sally Collier, England’s chief exam regulator, has pledged that A-level grades will be fair. Ofqual uses a calculation known as “comparable outcomes” to link A-level grades to results achieved by the same pupils at GCSE, to guard against grade inflation and to ensure that the grades of each year group reflect its ability overall.
The changes have seen new formats for A-levels in 13 subjects and the decoupling of AS-levels as an integral part of two-year A-level courses.
The reformed exams include many popular subjects, such as English, history, physics, biology, chemistry and psychology. But others, including maths, will not be examined in their new form for the first time until next year.
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