Malu Cursino
Live reporter

What a day. Well done to all of you receiving your A-level, T-level, BTec Nationals and other Level 3 results.

A lot of hard work got you through to this moment, and whatever the outcome we hope you can breathe a sigh of relief now - reassured that there are options available to you.

On that note, if you'd like to better understand clearing, head here. If an apprenticeship is part of your next steps, you can read more here. Or give our interactive guide on what to do next a go.

And to understand some of the key stats behind today's results, read our education team's full story.

Now relax, enjoy, and good luck with your next steps.

Today's coverage was produced by Hollie Cole, Nathan Standley, Seher Asaf, Rahib Khan, Catherine McGowan, Sam Hancock, Alice Evans and myself.

Mollie Perella
BBC Newsbeat

Image source, Freya Allen

Bagging tickets for Taylor Swift at Wembley? Now that’s a result.

It might even eclipse Freya Allen’s actual results, which she picked up from her college in Wimborne, Dorset, earlier.

From the car on the way to London with her mates, she tells me she’s got three Cs: one in history, another in chemistry and one in biology. It’s enough to secure her spot at Swansea University.

“I'm relieved because exams are done and now that I know that I've done OK, I'm excited to see what happens next,” she says, but first: the Eras tour.

And as it’s Taylor, naturally she’s made an effort.

“I’ve got a little white dress on with cowboy boots and a cowboy hat,” she says. “And lots of friendship bracelets.”

We're running a separate live page gearing up to Taylor Swift's performance in London tonight, which you can read more about here.

Graham Fraser
Technology reporter

Image source, Google

While many students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are celebrating grades today, it might be time for one of the world’s biggest tech companies to get revising.

Some students taking to Google this morning to search "how many Ucas points in an A" were given an AI Overview summary with details - the only problem was, they were wrong.

It reports an A grade on an AS-level qualification and an A-level were both worth 48 Ucas points. In fact, an A grade for an AS-level is worth 20 points.

The formatting of the AI Overview also made it unclear as to what AS-level scores were worth, with AS replaced with A-, C- and so on.

Meanwhile, other people searching for the exact same thing on Google were not given the incorrect AI information.

Google has not commented on the latest search problem around Ucas points.

• To find out the Ucas tariff points calculator, click here, external.

After months of hard work and several nail-biting exams, many of you now have your grades. Many of you will have secured a place at your dream university, apprenticeship, job or next step in life.

But for others, the day can bring some unexpected challenges, if results aren’t as expected.

If this is you or someone you know, please don't stress - we’ve got an interactive guide to help you explore available options for life after school or college.

Helen Burchell
BBC News

Image source, Ishwari Katariya

A 10-year-old boy has gained an A* in A-level maths.

Kautilya Katariya, from Northampton, is one of the youngest people in the country to have taken the examination - and he is a bit of a whizz when it comes to numbers.

He achieved the highest possible marks in his GCSE maths exam at the age of eight, after learning the subject online during Covid lockdowns, and aged six, he became a Guinness World Record holder for being the youngest qualified computer programmer.

Once again, girls achieved more A* and A grades than boys.

This year, 28% of grades given to female students were marked at A* or A, compared to 27.6% of grades given to male students.

The gap has narrowed since 2020 and 2021, when grades were based on teachers' assessments during the pandemic.

There was no gap in 2019.

But when you look at A* grades alone, boys are the winners – 9.5% of male entries were awarded A* grades, compared to 9.1% of female entries.

Nathan Standley
Education reporter

Let's have a closer look at some of today's T-level numbers:

• Results this year cover 16 T-level courses, compared with 10 last year
• Just under 7,400 T-level students got their results today, with 88.7% of those achieving a pass or above (see our earlier post here on how T-level grades compare to A-levels). Last year, the pass rate was 90.5%
• But when we dive into the stats further, some 10,200 T-level students started a course two years ago. Some of those who didn’t complete their T-levels this year may be taking longer to study, but most will have dropped out before the end of their course. The retention rate for courses that started in 2022 is 71%

Retention is an issue that's been brought up before with T-levels. This year is an improvement on last year's 66% rate, which was partly blamed on serious issues with the assessment of one of the biggest T-level courses - but still well below the retention rate for A-level students, which has comfortably remained above 90% in recent years.

The education secretary says T-levels, which were first launched in 2020, are a "really important" part of vocational education and are "here to stay", but Bridget Phillipson says there are problems to work out after the last government "botched" the rollout.

It's something the new government will want to look at as GCSE students receiving their grades next week consider T-levels as one of their options.

There have been some lovely shots coming in from across the country today, as students opened their A-level, T-level, BTec National and other Level 3 results.

Here's a selection of happy faces from schools and colleges in Northern Ireland, England and Wales.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Sam Robinson / BBC

Image source, Ross Pollard / BBC

There has been a lot of talk about universities today, but it's important to note that it is not the only option after you leave school or college.

Tens of thousands of people start apprenticeships every year.

They can be a great way to transition from school to work, and get a qualification for free.

Being an apprentice means you’ll earn money, get on-the-job experience, and get time off work to study.

In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, there are four different levels of apprenticeship that you can do, ranging from intermediate - which is equivalent to GCSEs - to degree level.

There are apprenticeships in many different areas - from engineering and nursing, to hospitality and journalism.

If there’s an apprenticeship you’re interested in, it is important to do your research, and ask employers what they have to offer in terms of training and pay.

• What is an apprenticeship and what's the pay like?

Cardiff businesswoman Lucy Cohen wants to "smash glass ceilings and break down barriers" for under-represented professionals in accountancy after getting into the industry by doing an apprenticeship.

The co-founder of Mazuma, a subscription-based accountancy company, says she believes apprenticeships can help increase diversity.

Cohen says the "earn while you learn" model can offer an accessible route into careers for people who wouldn't necessarily consider going to university.

Apprentices earn while learning, spending some of their paid working hours studying for a specific qualification.

• To read more about Cohen's journey, you can head here.

Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent

Short answer? No.

You may have seen reports of a fall in university applications from 18-year-olds this year.

The overall number of applications through Ucas this year from everyone - no matter what their age or where they come from - fell from 667,650 in 2023 to 656,760.

But when it comes to 18-year-olds specifically, the picture is a little different.

The proportion of all 18-year-olds in the UK who applied to university dropped from 42.1% in 2023 to 41.9% this year.

But at the same time, there are more 18-year-olds in the population.

So the number of 18-year-olds in the UK applying via Ucas actually went up - from 319,570 in 2023 to 321,410 in 2024.

And while that proportion of 18-year-olds applying has fallen this year, it is still higher than it was before than pandemic.

Robbie Meredith
BBC News NI education correspondent

Unlike results in England, there has been a fall in the number of A-Level entries in Northern Ireland awarded top A* and A grades in 2024.

That was widely expected as grades returned to pre-pandemic levels.

About 30.3% of A-level entries have been awarded A* or A grades in 2024, compared with 37.5% in 2023, 44% in 2022 and a record 51% in 2021.

While one in every 12 (8.2%) A-levels in 2024 has been awarded at the top A* grade.

But it's important to note that students in Northern Ireland achieved a larger share of top grades than their Welsh and English counterparts.

• Read more here.

Larissa Tairo
Reporting from Burnley

Image source, Larissa Tairo / BBC

Most young people don't go to university.

Benji Crampton, 18, has chosen to take a gap year to travel south-east Asia before joining the Royal Navy.

Today, he was awarded a distinction star after completing the 'Uniformed Services' course. It was through this course he realised his passion.

"I originally wanted to join the police force but when this course let us spend time with the army, I changed my mind", he says. Now, he wants to become an officer in the Navy.

"To serve [the] King and country is the greatest honour you can have".

"Through GCSE's I had a lot of stress and realised exams weren't for me," he tells us, but finding a vocational route where he could get stuck in "hands-on" was "perfect".

"There isn't enough emphasis on vocational courses, they're always overshadowed by A-Levels but Burnley College really helped open my eyes and showed me different doors," the 18-year-old says.

He is now most looking forward to experiencing different cultures on his travels.

Lucy Woodham and Tyler Edwards
Reporting from St. Aidan’s School, Harrogate

As Jack opened his A-levels, he said he was ready to “bring the Yorkshire to Australia”.

The 18-year-old from St. Aidan’s School in Harrogate got better results than he expected - two Bs and one D.

But he’s chosen not to go to university, as he doesn’t think it’s for him. “I can barely do A-levels myself, so I don’t know how university would go,” he tells us.

Before hopping on his one-way flight to the land of Oz, he’ll be out celebrating with mates in Leeds.

Let's hear what he had to say:

Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent

There’s been no change in the top 10 most-popular subjects this year.

But maths is the real winner – not only is it still the most popular subject, it’s also the first A-level to ever surpass more than 100,000 entries.

Across all subjects with more than 10,000 entries, further maths saw the biggest increase in uptake, followed by physics, computing, maths and then English literature.

(Entries to computing, by the way, have grown 83.1% since 2019.)

A report last week by the National Foundation for Educational Research, commissioned by the British Academy, suggested the range of subjects young people are studying after the age of 16 has narrowed.

It said there had been a particular decline in uptake of arts and humanities subjects, with 38% of sixth-form students studying a humanities subject in 2021-22, compared to around 60% in 2016.

All of this will ring alarm bells for universities trying to recruit enough students to keep arts and humanities subjects open.

Claire Quinn
BBC News NI reporter

Twins Sam and Joe were pupils in a school in Loughbrickland, Northern Ireland, and they are now moving on to study different subjects at Queen's University Belfast.

Sam got an A in English, A in media and B in biology while Joe got an A in media, B in history and C in English.

Sam is going to live in Belfast but Joe will be staying at home and travelling to his classes, which they say is "not a big deal" because they can text each other.

Cormac Campbell
BBC News NI reporter

Eoin McMullan from Castlewellan studied maths, further maths, business studies and physics at Down High School, in Downpatrick in Northern Ireland.

He plans to study accountancy at Queen's University, Belfast.

Eoin says he is aware of how expensive university can be, and he was considering doing an apprenticeship instead.

"But I thought to just go in and get it [university] over and done with,” he explains.

To fund his course, Eoin says he plans to get student finance and a part-time job.

“I think it would be very sad if someone didn't go to university just because of the money aspect of it,” he adds.

But that's a worry for a later date, for tonight he says he will be celebrating after all the hard work.

Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent

Overall, 27.6% of A-level grades in England were given an A or an A* this year.

But the proportion varies depending on where you live, and regional differences remain entrenched.

The gap between the two regions with the highest and lowest proportions of A* and A grades each year has grown, and is still higher than it was before the pandemic.

In London, the highest-performing region this year, 31.3% of all grades were marked A* or A, whereas in the East Midlands, this year's lowest-performing region, it was 22.5%.

More broadly, there is a north-south divide that existed before the pandemic and worsened over Covid.

This year, though, many regions in the Midlands and the North have improved at a higher rate than those in the South. The North East and the West Midlands saw the biggest growth in top grades.

MPs warned last year it could take a decade for the gap between disadvantaged pupils and others to narrow to what it was before Covid.

Bethan Lewis
BBC Wales education and family correspondent

Students here at St Joseph’s Catholic School in Port Talbot are naturally focused on their own results and what it means for the next steps.

But for months, exams bosses have been preparing schools, colleges, and the rest of us for lower grades Wales-wide after dropping the Covid support measures that were in place since 2020.

Top grades are down as expected but they’re still higher than the norm before 2020.

The fact that in Wales last year’s AS grades – set under a more generous system - count towards 40% of the final A-level grade might be part of the explanation.

The pandemic still had an impact on this cohort of students, but they are trying to get back to “normal” so there’s confidence that grades here in Wales count the same as they do in other parts of the UK.

Results for A-levels, T-levels, BTec Nationals and some Level 3 qualifications were released at 8am, marking the start of a day jam-packed with emotions as students received their grades in schools and colleges in Northern Ireland, England and Wales.

As a reminder, students in Scotland received their Highers results last week.

Image source, Sam Robinson / BBC

Image source, Sarah Lewis / BBC

Image source, PA Media