By Gavin Mackintosh-
Students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive A-level, T-level and BTec results on Thursday morning.
A-level results in England dropped for a second year running, bringing grades back in line with 2019 levels, before the pandemic.
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Top grades dropped by 25 per cent compared to last year, but are still higher than before the pandemic. It means there were 73,000 fewer top grades awarded this year than last year, but 32,000 more than in 2019.
The sudden drop follows a spike in top grades in 2020 and 2021 due to grade inflation, the year when exams were cancelled because of Covid.
Five thousand fewer students in England gained three A* grades than in 2022, while the proportion of top A*-A grades shrank from 35.9% to 26.5% within a year, with 67,000 fewer awarded this year.
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Headteachers said they were alarmed to see that in some cases grading was even more stringent than the last set of A-level exams taken before the pandemic, with the proportion of A*-C grades this year lower than those awarded in 2019 because of a sharp increase in the number of lowest grades
In total, 30 per cent of exams taken in London were graded A* or A – which is just behind the South East at 30.3 per cent.
The academic gap between the most and least deprived pupils in the country was also found to have widened
Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust, said: “The overall picture today is one of growing disparity between the most and least well off young people.
“There are significant regional differences in attainment, with top grades falling most in the North East while they have increased most in London and the South East, in line with patterns of regional prosperity.”
Students may also face stiffer competition for university places this year due to a growth in 18-year-olds in the population and international demand, it has been suggested.
In England, exams regulator Ofqual has said this year’s A-level results will be lower than last year – but they are expected to be similar to those in 2019.
In 2019 – the last summer before the pandemic – around one in four (25.4%) UK A-level entries were awarded A or A* grades.
However, exam regulators in Wales and Northern Ireland, said they do not expect to return to pre-pandemic grading standards until 2024.
The cohort of students who are receiving their A-level results did not sit GCSE exams and were awarded teacher-assessed grades amid the pandemic.
Leaders in the education sector have warned that this cohort could face greater disappointment on A-level results day as they may have higher expectations after receiving record high GCSE results in 2021.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), told the PA news agency: “Their aspirations will have been raised because of the results they got at GCSE.
“And yet what they’re going to see [on Thursday] in most cases is that however their sister or brother did last year getting a string of top grades that is less likely to happen this year.”
Mr Barton added that he has heard anecdotal evidence that some teachers have predicted grades for students “more akin” to during the pandemic years despite the return to pre-Covid grading standards in England this year.
“Whereas we will always see some disappointment on results day, that disappointment might be intensified if those young people feel that actually the kind of grades they were getting through the year and on their Ucas reference from the school reflected something higher than in reality they could be getting [on Thursday],” he said.
Schools Minister Nick Gibb has said exam results in England need to return to pre-pandemic levels to ensure A-levels carry “weight and credibility” with employers and universities.
But he said “additional protection” is in place this year where grade boundaries will be altered if senior examiners find national evidence of a drop in standards compared with 2019.
It comes after Covid-19 led to an increase in top A-level and GCSE grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams.
I’m incredibly proud of all students receiving their results today
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan
Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), told PA: “For me, the biggest concerns are likely to be around people who get less good results than they expected and who may then miss their firm offer and possibly also their insurance offer.
“Remember, this is the cohort that got stellar GCSE grades so more than usual will be disappointed by their deflated A-level results and they will then find there’s less choice than in recent years in clearing.”
He added: “Even if they do find a place they’re happy with, they may then struggle to find decent accommodation, which is in short supply in many cities. It’s a bit of a mess and the best advice is for people to act swiftly.”
As of Wednesday morning, the day before A-level results day, a PA sample of 130 of the UK’s largest higher education providers showed there were 22,521 courses with vacancies for undergraduate students living in England on the Ucas clearing website.
A similar analysis last year, carried out the day before A-level results day, showed there were 22,685 courses with vacancies on the clearing site – which is slightly more than the number available this year.
Clearing is available to students who do not meet the conditions of their offer on A-level results day, as well as those who did not receive any offers.
Students who have changed their mind about what or where they wish to study, and also those who have applied outside the normal application window, can also use the process.
Last week, Ucas chief executive Clare Marchant urged students to be “quick off the mark” on A-level results day as said she believed a lot of the highly selective courses would go quickly in clearing.
Students in England have faced some level of disruption to their schooling due to Covid-19, as well as a series of teacher strikes since February this year.
Carl Cullinane, director of research and policy at the Sutton Trust social mobility charity, warned that the return to pre-pandemic grading for this year’s A-levels “doesn’t bode well for disadvantaged students.”
“I’m incredibly proud of all students receiving their results today. For many, this will have been the first set of formal exams they have ever taken, having faced unprecedented circumstances in the years building up to this summer.
“I know young people will have risen to the challenge, and thousands will get the results they need to take hold of their future, whether at university, through an apprenticeship or in the world of work.
“There are more options than ever before and a huge amount of support available, whether pupils get the results they wanted or not.
“Congratulations to each and every young person taking their next step and thank you to the teachers who helped them get there.”
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