'Sadly not everybody will get a place'

About 250,000 students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due to get their A-level results, amid a big battle for university places.

A record 660,000 people had applied to university by June this year, yet only 482,000 places were awarded in 2009.

Universities and Science Minister David Willetts said the government was doing its best to meet growth in demand, but admitted ''not everybody will get a place''.