Education Secretary has praised the resilience
and hard work of young people, as hundreds of thousands prepare
to collect A and AS level, T Level and Level 3 vocational and
technical exam results today (17 August).
The results mark the culmination of years of hard work for young
people and their teachers, and pave the way for students’ next
steps to university, further training, or into work.
This is the first year that AS and A Levels have largely returned
to normal. During the pandemic, results were higher as exams
could not go ahead. As the normal grading system returned this
summer, grades will be lower than last year but similar to 2019
levels. That means, for example, a student whose work would have
earned a C grade at A level in 2019 is just as likely to get a C
this year, opening the same exciting doors to life after school.
The return to pre-pandemic grading is important for students – it
means that universities and employers understand their
performance, have confidence in their qualifications, and can use
them to help students progress into opportunities that match
their achievements, now and in the future.
This is also the second year the Government’s flagship new
qualifications, T Levels, have been awarded, with thousands of
students waiting to receive their results today. These new
qualifications – the technical counterpart to A levels - are
designed in collaboration with leading employers and offer a high
quality technical education.
Universities have made sure entry requirements and offers reflect
the grades students were expected to receive - as they do every
year – and the number of places at top universities is not
affected by the number of top grades.
Education Secretary said:
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.
By sitting exams, students have a fair chance to show their
knowledge and understanding of a subject and ensure a level
playing field.
For GCSEs and A levels, senior examiners will have made
allowances where national performance was found to be slightly
lower than before the pandemic. This will create a level of
protection for students as grading returns to normal, following
the disruption of recent years.
The Government has made almost £5 billion available to help
children and young people recover from the impact of the
pandemic, including £1.5 billion for high quality tutoring to
support students taking exams this year and in the future. Nearly
four million courses have been started through the National
Tutoring Programme since 2020, including 1.3 million so far
this academic year.
In cases where a student does not achieve their predicted grades,
it is very common for them to still be offered a place by their
preferred universities. In 2019, only 20 per cent of English
18-year-old applicants with a minimum of 3 A Level predictions
met or exceeded their predicted grades, but almost 90 per cent of
the same group still got a place at a UK university. Almost 65
per cent of those were accepted to their firm choice.
There’s a huge amount of support on hand for students:
- Students’ school or college – or the admissions team at the
university which they are applying - should be their first port
of call.
- Experts at the National Careers Service will be available
throughout the results period.
- UCAS’s Clearing hotline is open to help students understand
their options.
- The online ‘Clearing Plus’ service will help match students
to courses with entry requirements that align with the grades
they achieved.
There is also a variety of high-quality technical options open to
students, including degree apprenticeships and higher technical
qualifications, that will enable them to gain the skills they
need to kickstart great careers. Students can explore their
options through the Get The
Jump website.
GCSE grades will be released on 24 August 2023.
