College students as we speak claimed to have been ‘utterly screwed over’ amid an A-level marking clampdown because the proportion of exams awarded prime grades plunged.
This yr’s pupils who acquired their A-level outcomes as we speak didn’t sit GCSE exams two years in the past and had been awarded teacher-assessed grades amid the pandemic. Most had not sat in a proper examination corridor since they took SATs once they had been 11-years-old.
Described as ‘the unluckiest’ cohort of scholars, this yr’s exams had been the primary formal assessments they’ve ever taken due to Covid-19 disruption at colleges.
The kids, dubbed ‘Era Covid’, spoke out after information revealed as we speak that the proportion of A-level entries awarded prime grades was down on final yr however stays above pre-pandemic ranges.
Heartbreaking footage confirmed relations and lecturers comforting teenagers who’ve had been left disenchanted by the grades they had been handed this morning.
One mom crowded round her daughter as she opened her outcomes, encouraging her ‘A, B, C. That is good!’ solely to be advised bluntly by the unimpressed pupil, ‘that is terrible’.
Others had been lowered to tears after they teared into the envelope, being consoled by their family and friends members.
Some 250,000 college students have now acquired their grades in a yr when ministers and the exams regulator in England aimed to return to pre-pandemic grading.
However 19,000 college students had been concerned in a Clearing frenzy as we speak after lacking out on a college place – with some establishments working out of locations inside hours.
Ruby Stephens (left) discusses her A-level outcomes together with her instructor Rachel Vaughan at Sydenham Excessive Faculty in South East London as we speak
A sixth-form scholar discusses her A-level outcomes at an unnamed college in London as we speak
College students at Ark Acton Academy in Acton, West London, talk about their A-level outcomes as we speak
Will Colman receives his A-level outcomes at Langley Faculty in Loddon, Norfolk, as we speak
Kirsten Marks (proper) discusses her A-level outcomes with deputy head instructor Elyse Waites at Sydenham Excessive Faculty in South East London as we speak
Isaac Whittaker speaks on the telephone after opening his outcomes at Ffynone Home Faculty in Swansea as we speak
The decrease grades have triggered a flurry of scholars to surge in the direction of Clearing, selecting up the telephone to try to squeeze onto well-liked programs.
The College of Birmingham stated it was ‘closed for Clearing’ by 12.30pm – whereas Durham stated at 12pm it had shut for all Clearing programs besides major schooling.
London South Financial institution College reported a 29 per cent rise in Clearing purposes this yr, whereas Aston College stated it was ‘experiencing excessive ranges of calls’ as we speak.
The College of Sheffield stated it had already taken 5,655 calls inside the first hour of its name centre opening from 8am, with greater than 80 individuals staffing the telephones.
Amongst those that didn’t get their first college alternative was Man Martin, 18, who wanted an A and two Bs for chemical engineering on the College of Southampton. He’ll now take the identical diploma at his insurance coverage alternative, the College of Surrey.
Mr Martin advised the Day by day Telegraph: ‘I did not actually realise how a lot my schooling had been affected by Covid till I reached examination season.
‘I hadn’t truly completed any actual exams till my A-levels. It’s a fear that the grade boundaries are going to be decrease this yr. I feel we have been utterly screwed over.
‘We’re anticipated to do these exams underneath regular situations once we have not had a traditional schooling.’
One 18-year-old, who studied Biology, Chemistry and Drama, acquired his predicted grades of AAB – however insists if the grade boundaries remained at 2019 ranges, he would have gotten triple As.
The coed is now going to take a niche yr and apply to St Andrews or Bristol College advised MailOnline: ‘We’ve got had each our GCSE years affected by Covid so we had not had any correct formal exams since we took SATs – which is seven years in the past.’
‘For me, I forgot research. After two years of instructor assed grades, I did not know ,’ the pupil, who requested to stay nameless added.
‘Contemplating 2019 was one of many highest set of grade boundaries, it is senseless for these in 2023, a college yr who confronted two years of Covid, to obtain harsher grade boundaries.’
One other scholar on Twitter stated: ‘I am getting my outcomes as we speak and I had by no means sat an examination earlier than my A-levels.
‘How is that honest in comparison with college students in 2019 who had already sat exams and have skilled examination situations?’
Greater than 1 / 4 (27.2 per cent) of UK entries had been awarded an A or A* grade, down by 9.2 share factors on final yr when 36.4 per cent acquired the highest grades.
Nevertheless, this was nonetheless greater than in 2019 – the final yr that summer season exams had been taken earlier than the pandemic – when 25.4 per cent of entries had been awarded A or A*. This yr’s determine was additionally greater than in any yr on document earlier than the pandemic.
The general cross price – the proportion of entries graded A* to E – has fallen to 97.3 per cent this yr, which is decrease than 2022 (98.4 per cent) and 2019 (97.6 per cent). This price is now at its lowest stage since 2008 when it stood at 97.2 per cent.
In the meantime a cricketer who achieved the grades she wants to check physiotherapy stated that disruption by means of the pandemic was exhausting however lecturers ‘helped us get by means of all of it fairly easily’.
Might Drinkell, 18, of Bungay, Suffolk, collected her grades at Langley Faculty close to Loddon in Norfolk as we speak, attaining a B in A-level chemistry, C in maths and a distinction in BTec sport.
‘I used to be feeling a bit nervous, the construct up’s been fairly some time, I had the summer season to let it marinate however I am proud of the way it went and I am simply glad it is throughout actually now,’ she stated.
She stated her first alternative is to check physiotherapy at UEA in Norwich alongside her cricket coaching.
Scholar Danielle Owusu Ansah reacts to her A-level outcomes at Metropolis of London Faculty as we speak
Richard Osborne (left) and Rhys Marjoram at Langley Faculty in Loddon, Norfolk, this morning
Scholar Hasena Mahmood reacts after receiving her outcomes at Metropolis of London Faculty as we speak
Twins Alice and Holly Hake have fun their A-level examination outcomes at St Gabriel’s Faculty in Newbury, Berkshire, this morning after attaining six As and a couple of A*s between them
College students at Brighton Women have fun this morning after receiving their A-level outcomes
Scenes of jubilation at Newcastle Excessive Faculty for Women this morning as college students have fun
Referring to disruption by means of the pandemic, she stated: ‘It has been a bit bit exhausting however the lecturers have been so good right here and so they’ve helped us get by means of all of it fairly easily.’
In the meantime the Ucas web site got here underneath extreme pressure and briefly crashed this morning.
Some college students logging onto the college admission service’s web site took to social media to inform of considerations that it had crashed and so they couldn’t entry their outcomes.
Ucas advised MailOnline that the web site could have been ‘working gradual’ for a ‘small quantity’ of scholars however this was shortly resolved.
It additionally stated on social media that ‘excessive site visitors volumes’ might imply it ‘takes a bit longer than regular’ to load.
It comes amid a scramble for 29,000 programs and eight,000 apprenticeships in Clearing as we speak, after the full variety of college students accepted on to UK diploma programs fell 2.6 per cent on the identical level final yr, with 414,940 taking on locations up to now.
Ucas stated 79 per cent of scholars secured their first alternative for college, which is down from 81 per cent final yr – however up from 74 per cent in 2019.
Some 12 per cent had been positioned at their insurance coverage alternative – up from 11 per cent final yr.
Due to this fact, 91 per cent of scholars acquired into their first or insurance coverage alternative – whereas the remaining 9 per cent went into Clearing.
Total, 19,010 UK 18-year-old candidates have missed the situations of their provide – considerably up on 15,090 final yr and likewise an increase on 17,270 in 2019, Ucas added.
There have been 29,000 programs and eight,000 apprenticeships obtainable in Clearing as we speak.
The Ucas web site struggled to load for some pupils, which it blamed on ‘excessive site visitors volumes’
The A-level outcomes figures, revealed by the Joint Council for {Qualifications} (JCQ), cowl A-level entries from college students in England, Wales and Northern Eire.
In England, exams regulator Ofqual had stated this yr’s A-level outcomes can be decrease than final yr and they might be just like these in 2019 as a part of efforts to return to pre-pandemic grading.
It comes after Covid-19 led to a rise in prime grades in 2020 and 2021, with outcomes based mostly on instructor assessments as a substitute of exams.
In Wales, outcomes are anticipated to be ‘broadly halfway’ between these awarded in 2022 – the primary yr college students sat exams following the pandemic – and 2019.
In Northern Eire, outcomes are anticipated to return to pre-pandemic ranges subsequent yr.
Total, the proportion of UK entries awarded the highest A* grade this yr has fallen by 5.7 share factors to eight.9 per cent in contrast with 14.6 per cent in 2022, however it’s greater than when it stood at 7.7 per cent in 2019.
Boys have pulled forward of ladies on the prime grade this yr after feminine entries had been in entrance for the final three years, with A* grades at 9.1 per cent for the previous in contrast with 8.8 per cent for the latter.
Women continued to outperform boys at A* and A however the gender hole has narrowed once more this yr.
A complete of three,820 college students in England alone scored three A*grades, in keeping with separate figures from exams regulator Ofqual.
That is down from 8,570 final yr, however up from 2,785 in 2019.
Many A-level college students in Wales and Northern Eire got advance details about matters to count on of their examination papers this summer season however college students in England weren’t given the identical help.
Ofqual stated it constructed safety into the grading course of in England this yr to recognise the disruption that college students have confronted, which ought to have enabled a scholar to get the grade they’d have acquired earlier than the pandemic even when the standard of their work is a bit bit weaker attributable to disruption.
The cohort of scholars who’re receiving their A-level outcomes didn’t sit GCSE exams and had been awarded teacher-assessed grades amid the pandemic.
Geoff Barton, normal secretary of the Affiliation of Faculty and Faculty Leaders (ASCL), stated: ‘The proportion of scholars attaining the highest A-level grades has fallen sharply this yr, not on account of underperformance, however as a result of the grading system has been adjusted within the wake of the pandemic in order that the distribution of grades in England is just like 2019.
‘This adjustment is a return to normality after the pandemic which necessitated using completely different approaches to grading.
‘Regardless of the rationale, nevertheless, it is going to really feel like a bruising expertise for a lot of college students, in addition to colleges and faculties which can have seen a pointy dip in prime grades in comparison with the previous three years.
‘You will need to keep in mind that these college students additionally suffered the disruption of the pandemic, and this may have impacted significantly on these from deprived backgrounds.’
He added: ‘We’d urge college students who’re disenchanted by their grades to not panic however to speak to their lecturers in regards to the choices obtainable to them and we want all of the younger individuals receiving their outcomes as we speak each success for the longer term.’
College students have fun their outcomes at William Hulme’s Grammar Faculty in Manchester as we speak
Eve Glitz, 18, celebrates with mother and father David and Jane at St Gabriel’s Faculty in Newbury as we speak
Scholar Rayaan Mahamoud celebrates her A-Degree outcomes at Metropolis of London Faculty as we speak
Lili Connell (second left) opens her A-level outcomes together with her mother and father at Brighton Women as we speak
Habib Matlib, Umair Abdullah and John Bose at Ffynone Home Faculty in Swansea as we speak
John Bose smiles after receiving his A-level outcomes at Ffynone Home Faculty in Swansea as we speak
Scholar Silicate Ibrahim reacts after receiving her outcomes at Metropolis of London Faculty as we speak
College students at Plantsbrook Faculty in Sutton Coldfield open their A-level outcomes this morning
Alicia Duffus seems at her A-level outcomes at Plantsbrook Faculty in Sutton Coldfield as we speak
Julia and Vijayakemaran at Ark Acton Academy in Acton, West London, with their outcomes as we speak
College students at Plantsbrook Faculty in Sutton Coldfield take a look at their A-level outcomes as we speak
College students react after receiving their A-Degree outcomes at Metropolis of London Faculty this morning
Mary Watts (left) and Tallulah Huggins obtain their A-level outcomes at Brighton Women as we speak
College students at Plantsbrook Faculty in Sutton Coldfield take a look at their A-level outcomes this morning
College students at Plantsbrook Faculty in Sutton Coldfield open their A-level outcomes this morning
College students react after receiving their A-Degree outcomes at Metropolis of London Faculty this morning
College students at Plantsbrook Faculty in Sutton Coldfield open their A-level outcomes this morning
In the meantime Ucas stated the variety of college students accepted on to UK diploma programs has fallen this yr.
A complete of 414,940 candidates – of all ages and domiciles – have gained a spot at college or school – down 2.6 per cent on the identical level final yr, in keeping with its information.
For 18-year-olds within the UK, 230,600 candidates have been accepted – down 3.1 per cent on final yr.
Ucas stated 79 per cent of 18-year-old candidates from the UK have gained a spot at their first alternative college or school, which is down from 81 per cent final yr however up from 74 per cent in 2019 – the yr earlier than the pandemic.
Almost one in ten (9 per cent) haven’t been positioned at their first or insurance coverage alternative and are actually in clearing, Ucas stated, in comparison with 7 per cent final yr and 12 per cent in 2019.
The variety of 18-year-olds from essentially the most deprived backgrounds within the UK to achieve locations on programs is 25,760 this yr, in comparison with 26,440 final yr.
The variety of 18-year-olds from essentially the most advantaged backgrounds within the UK to be accepted is 76,780, in comparison with 79,650 in 2022.
The admissions service stated because of this for each deprived scholar, 2.30 advantaged college students progress in comparison with 2.29 final yr.
Total, 51,210 worldwide college students (all ages, all domiciles) have been accepted – down 2.3 per cent on final yr. The highest three international locations with positioned candidates are China, India and Hong Kong.
Ucas chief government Clare Marchant stated A-level outcomes have been a ‘very optimistic image’ and praised a cohort of scholars who’re sitting exterior exams for the primary time.
She advised BBC Radio 4’s At this time programme that there was a slight drop within the variety of college students getting a spot at their first alternative college.
Ms Marchant stated that 79 per cent of scholars had acquired their first alternative at college which means that they will ‘simply exit and have fun’.
She stated: ‘Sure, a slight drop from final yr, which is what we anticipated as we return to the conventional grading however once more considerably up from the 74 per cent again in 2019 and that’s what we anticipated.’
When requested about what recommendation she had for college students who did not get their first alternative ought to do she added: ‘Simply take into consideration the next step. We’ve got acquired 29,000 programs in clearing as I sit right here as we speak and round 8,000 apprenticeships on UCAS.
‘There’s loads of alternative. The actually key factor in case you’re college students or a mother or father, or guardian, is to simply take a bit little bit of time. If you have not already completed the analysis to suppose by means of what’s best for you.’
Ms Marchant additionally stated in an announcement: ‘Firstly, I need to say an enormous congratulations to the a whole lot of 1000’s of scholars up and down the nation who’re celebrating their outcomes and subsequent steps as we speak.
‘I’m delighted to see greater than 200,000 UK 18-year-olds have secured their first alternative, which is testomony to their exhausting work and dedication to progress to greater schooling in a yr that has seen many complicated elements at play, equivalent to geopolitics, the economic system and job market, and price of residing.
‘Nevertheless, as we speak’s information exhibits that challenges in widening participation to essentially the most deprived college students nonetheless persist. This demonstrates that all of us have to proceed the efforts to make sure essentially the most deprived people in society are in a position to profit from life-changing alternatives in greater schooling and coaching, significantly because the 18-year-old inhabitants grows.’
She added: ‘For anybody who could not have gotten the outcomes they had been hoping for, or for these candidates who need to change their thoughts, there may be loads of alternative in clearing with practically 29,000 programs and eight,000 apprenticeships at the moment obtainable.
‘We even have a workforce of advisers exhausting at work to offer college students with knowledgeable info, recommendation and steerage on the telephones, social media, and on ucas.com.’
Schooling Secretary Gillian Keegan insisted the best way A-levels have been graded in England was honest regardless of examination regulators in Wales and Northern Eire stating that they don’t count on to return to pre-pandemic grading requirements till 2024.
Ms Keegan advised BBC Breakfast: ‘In some unspecified time in the future it’s a must to sit exams in life, they normally come to all of us.
‘Clearly when it was their GCSEs, it was proper in the midst of the pandemic, all of them acquired teacher-assessed grades. That is now the time we have chosen, and we expect it’s the proper time – it’s two years after the pandemic – that we return to the conventional grading system.’
Instructed it was not honest to check the outcomes from this yr’s cohort of faculty leavers who had not sat exams earlier than to these in 2019, Ms Keegan stated: ‘Nicely it’s honest as a result of what we have now made certain is that there have been some extra issues put into place.
‘So that they did get some extra aide-memoires for sure topics and there are some extra issues which were put into place with grade boundaries, so they aren’t similar.
‘However the thought is that we get an similar outcome… so there are very subtle new programs and so they do know what they’re doing, and we have now very senior examiners ensuring they calibrate that (to) 2019.’
The Schooling Secretary added that this yr’s A-levels cohort had ‘so much to cope with’ and had proven ‘unbelievable resilience’ as she congratulated them on their grades.
Ms Keegan additionally stated the most recent Ucas figures confirmed the UK Authorities was ‘proper to place the grading system again to regular’.
She advised BBC Radio 4: ‘We have simply had the Ucas figures out… which is that 79 per cent of these college students receiving their outcomes as we speak acquired their first alternative of college. And that’s up from 74 per cent in 2019.
‘And the good information is that 16,500 college students on free college meals gained a spot at college, which is a 60 per cent improve from 2019 and 14 per cent up from final yr.
‘So by way of locations, this cohort has completed extremely effectively and most of them – 79 per cent – have truly acquired their first alternative of college.
‘So hopefully that can lead all people to know that we had been proper to place the grading system again to regular. The college admissions officers know cope with these variations, they know cope with the distinction from earlier cohorts and so they additionally know cope with variations between the English system and the Welsh, Northern Irish and Scottish.’
She additionally stated the pupils receiving A-level grades as we speak had been unlikely to be requested for the outcomes by employers in 10 years’ time.
Talking to Sky Information, the Schooling Secretary stated: ‘Any individual requested me, ‘What’s going to individuals ask you in 10 years’ time?’
‘They will not ask you something about your A-level grades in 10 years’ time.
‘They are going to ask you about different issues you have got completed since then: what you have got completed within the work place, what you probably did at college?
‘After which, after a time period, they do not even ask you what you probably did at college.
‘It’s actually all about what you do and what you may show and the abilities that you simply study within the office.’
The Schooling Secretary additionally advised Sky Information that A-level pupils will ‘nonetheless get the identical entry to college’ as these in earlier years.
Gillian Keegan stated: ‘The entire grading system can be again to regular and so the colleges will calibrate to that.
‘And in reality they have already got completed so of their affords to some extent – they’ve already taken that under consideration.
‘So we have now labored with the colleges so that they perceive it, with the admissions officers. And in addition with companies, so that they perceive it.
‘All people is aware of that these are completely different situations to the teacher-assessed grades and even final yr, which was half method between the 2 programs, extra just like what they’ve completed in Northern Eire and Wales.’
Talking to GB Information, Ms Keegan stated A-level grades would return ‘again to regular’ with pre-pandemic grading anticipated to result in decrease grades than final yr.
She stated: ‘Initially, the grading system is not going to affect the college locations.
‘It is rather regular that the anticipated grades that folks get… I feel just one in 5 truly get their predicted grades or above, so this can be a very regular a part of the system.
‘So the precise college locations and entry to college continues to be precisely the identical because it was. If that they had acquired a B and gone to college in 2019, they’ll get a B and go to college in 2023.
‘All we have now completed is, and that is actually vital as a result of our exams, each GCSEs and A-levels, are extremely regarded internationally and we need to be sure that they hold that worth.
‘Clearly we would have liked to return from teacher-assessed grades and we did that final yr however now we’re going again to the conventional grading system, and that can ensure that these maintain their worth and that they do have true worth.’
On TalkTV, Ms Keegan stated worldwide scholar locations at UK universities had ‘remained regular’ following experiences that British college students might face extra competitors for greater schooling locations this yr attributable to a progress in 18-year-olds within the inhabitants and worldwide demand.
The Schooling Secretary stated that experiences that college clearing had been going to prioritise worldwide college students as a result of they pay extra had been ‘deceptive’.
When the report was put to her, Ms Keegan stated: ‘No, effectively 70 per cent of the worldwide college students that come to the nation to check are literally learning postgraduate. So that’s the first truth.
‘The second is that, of the undergraduates, 85 per cent of them are house college students and 15 per cent worldwide. And that has remained regular, up or down a share or two over time, however it has remained fairly regular.
‘What was checked out in clearing was a snapshot that was very deceptive as a result of the worldwide college students get their A-level equal outcomes earlier, so there was extra clearing put in for worldwide college students.
‘All of these programs have now been loaded up, 29,000 of them, for house college students because the A-level outcomes are actually (obtainable).’
Margaret Farragher, chief government of the JCQ, stated: ‘This yr’s outcomes recognise the incredible achievements of scholars throughout the nation. They’ve labored extremely exhausting all through the pandemic interval to attain these well-earned grades.
‘The 2023 outcomes present that college students are effectively geared up to proceed their research or transfer into apprenticeships or employment. ‘
Pupils in Scotland acquired their outcomes final week and the Scottish {Qualifications} Authority figures confirmed that the Larger cross price was down from final yr however it remained above 2019 ranges.