A-level results day sees rise in top grades

Many students at Barnsley College decided to receive their exam results in person rather than online

Schools and colleges in Yorkshire and the Humber have seen a rise in the proportion of top A-level grades awarded to students in 2024.

As students received their results on Thursday, figures showed that 24.6% of A-level entries in the region were awarded the top A* or A grades this year, up from 23% in 2023.

Meanwhile, the A-level pass rate for students in Yorkshire and the Humber was also up, rising from 97.2% in 2023 to 97.3% in 2024.

Phil Rumsey, principal of Scarborough Sixth Form College, praised the success of his students and described this year's A-level results as “stunning”.

All regions of the country also saw a higher proportion of entries awarded A* or A this year than in the pre-pandemic year of 2019, according to the latest figures.

London saw the highest proportion of entries awarded A and above, at 31.3%, up 1.3 percentage points from 30.0% in 2023.

The East Midlands had the lowest, at 22.5%, up 0.2 points from 22.3% in 2023.

Scarborough Sixth Form College students Liam Doody and Neil Manpranathukaran collected their results on Thursday morning

At Scarborough Sixth form College, Mr Rumsey said there were "so many happy faces" on show on Thursday as students received their results.

"This is what it’s all about for us as teachers," he said.

"Today is the day, and to have 15 students who got straight A*s and As is just amazing."

Mr Rumsey said his students had done particularly well considering the difficulties of the last few years.

“The Covid thing has almost kind of disappeared now and it’s easy to forget that these students were also disrupted," he said.

"But, equally, they’ve worked really hard with their teachers to plug those gaps and that’s why they’re able to get the high grades they’ve got.”

Among those receiving their results at the college were Neil Manpranathukaran and Liam Doody, who said they had been friends since they started primary school.

They said they now both planned to go to Durham University to study Maths and were "over the moon” with their results.

Mr Doody said: “We’ve been best friends for a while, so every time we have any tests or anything we see which of us is better.

"Usually it’s Neil, but if I do something better, then he won’t hear the end of it.”

Barnsley College student Lisa Lin said she was going to study law at Durham after gaining the results she needed

At Barnsley College, about 300 students picked up their A-level results on Thursday.

Many students said they had made the decision to go into college to receive their results, rather than just logging on to see them online.

Student Jake Cunliffe said it was important for him to experience the traditional results day experience.

“I think there’s something nice about opening the letter with your name on it and not knowing how you’ve done, and then hopefully – all things going well – finding out that you’ve got what you needed," he said.

After receiving his results, Mr Cunliffe said he planned to study for an IT degree apprenticeship at HSBC.

Lisa Lin, another Barnsley College student, said the journey to A-level results day had been stressful, but she was pleased she had been awarded an A*, an A and two Bs.

“I’m going to study law at Durham. It’s a great place for law," she said.

"I’ve been told by one of my teachers I got one of the highest for my law paper for my set of exams.

"I’m pretty chuffed that all this revision has got me there in the end. It’s worth the hassle and stress.”

Sheffield Hallam University staff were on hand after the publication of results to speak to students about clearing

Nationally, 82% of students successfully got into their first choice university this year, an increase of 3% from last year.

But, for students in Yorkshire and the Humber region who had not quite reached the grades they hoped for, they could now take part in the university clearing process.

A spokesperson for the University of Sheffield said staff had so far spoken to 547 high-achieving applicants looking for places through clearing.

A total of 80 people were staffing phones via a virtual and physical call centre, and another 50 were on hand to speak to applicants about clearing, they added.

Dan Barcroft, the university's director of admissions, said: "Competition for clearing places remains fierce, especially for popular courses at top universities."

Mr Barcroft said that following publication of the exam results, many students were "reassessing their options and using clearing to 'shop around' and find the best university for them".

'Pandemic legacy'

Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, who was previously headteacher of Wales High School in Sheffield, said: "This is a red-letter day for thousands of young people and there will be both celebrations and disappointments."

"While the dark days of the pandemic are in the past, its legacy continues to haunt us, as many of these students experienced severe disruption to their education," he added.

"In particular, this impacted on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds whose families were also adversely affected by the subsequent cost-of-living crisis."

About 27,600 18-year-olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds across the UK had accepted a place in higher education this year - up 7% from 2023, according to the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.

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