Top grades for A-level results for England, Wales and Northern Ireland have fallen since last year – with 36.4% of all grades marked at A* or A
But the percentage is still higher than 2019 – the last time results were based on students taking exams
Grades have been purposefully lowered from levels seen in 2020 and 2021 - when students were assessed by teachers due to the pandemic
Students have also received their T-level results for the first time ever - the overall pass rate was 92%
These technical qualifications are each broadly equivalent to three A-levels, and involve a mix of classroom learning and industry placements
More than 425,000 students have got a place in university or college - the second highest number on record - Ucas figures show
A return to in-person exams sees 19% more 18-year-olds accepted into their first or insurance choice than in 2019
Private school students in England received a higher proportion of A* or A grades among their A-levels than pupils in any other educational setting.
That continues a longstanding trend.
As you'll see from our graphic below, 58% of private school entries were given grades in those top two categories.
Selective schools were the next top performers.
Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent
Image source, Getty ImagesQuestions are being asked why the government is sticking to its cap on medical and dentistry places.
The arguments being put forward are two-fold – there are shortages of doctors and dentists around the country and there appears to be lots of students with high A-level grades who are missing out on places.
Last year the government increased the number of places by 1,000 to nearly 9,300 because of the high number of top grades achieved after exams were cancelled because of the pandemic.
Despite this there were a number of students who had to defer starting their training until this year. It has created a very competitive field for places this year.
However, there are very good reasons why places are capped. Training doctors and dentists costs the government much more than students pay in fees and, what is more, there needs to be good quality clinical placements available for these students during training.
A balance has to be struck.
Image source, Coleg y CymoeddCelyn dreams of one day developing treatments for conditions including cystic fibrosis
Celyn Rose from Caerphilly is one step closer to achieving her dream of becoming a doctor after her top grades saw her accepted to study medicine at the University of Liverpool.
The 20-year old narrowly missed out on a university spot last summer but returned to further education college Coleg y Cymoedd to re-sit her exams and secure the grades she needed.
Born with the cystic fibrosis carrier gene, Celyn has been interested in medicine from a young age. Her A-A-B grades in maths, chemistry and biology mean she is on now track for a career in medicine.
She hopes to play a role in discovering and developing new treatments for conditions like cystic fibrosis.
“Although being a carrier of cystic fibrosis doesn’t mean I have the condition, it does mean that if I ever had a partner with the same gene, our child could suffer from it," she explains.
"This sparked an interest for me regarding how genetics and the human body work."
Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent
In London, 39% of A-level grades were marked at A* and A, compared with 30.8% of those in the north east of England.
Last year, it was 47.9% in London and 39.2% in the north east of England.
Students getting their results today have experienced huge disruption to their education because of Covid.
They were part-way through Year 11 when the pandemic hit and schools closed during national lockdowns.
They didn’t take GCSE exams, as those were cancelled.
Further school closures followed while they were in Year 12, and many pupils also experienced disruption due to Covid at the beginning of Year 13.
The disruption didn’t affect everyone equally – they varied depending on how different areas were affected by the pandemic, and how different schools and families were able to cope.
Back in March, MPs said the "devastating" impact of England's school closures during the pandemic was leading to greater inequality.
The Department for Education introduced catch-up tutoring to help those pupils who needed it most.
Cash to arrange tutoring will go directly to schools in England from September.
Image source, Walsall CollegeT-level student Jake Flood bagged himself a distinction
Jake Flood, 18, found out he'd landed a distinction in his T-level this morning and now says he "can't wait" to get started on his five-year apprenticeship with construction giants Balfour Beatty.
Speaking to the BBC News channel earlier, he described T-levels as "like a medium ground between an apprenticeship and A-levels".
"You sit A-level-like exams at the end of a two-year course, but you have 45 days worth of work experience with a company," he said.
Jake, who did his studying at Walsall College, worked on high-speed rail project HS2 during his placement with Balfour Beatty.
Now, he's been offered a degree-level apprenticeship in tunnel surveying with them.
"I'm looking forward to it and really can't wait to get involved," he said.
“I hope it will lead to a job after. Because it’s such a niche area, it should be able to take me all around the world."
Education Secretary James Cleverly has been congratulating students on getting their A-level results today.
This year's grades were determined by exams, rather than being assessed by teachers as was the case during the pandemic, and are down on the past two years. But they are still higher than before the coronavirus outbreak.
"We always had a plan that we wanted to get the grades back to the levels we saw pre-pandemic and we've taken a big step in the right direction," Cleverly says.
"They are still a little bit higher than they were in 2019 but they are down on last year and that's right and proper."
Shona Elliott
Reporting from West Bromwich
Angela Tombs says she's just as tense as the students at her school
Dotted around the entrance to Central St Michael's Sixth Form College are smiling groups of students celebrating their exam successes.
Slightly removed from this bustle is the school’s director of student services, Angela Tombs. She is quietly supporting students overwhelmed with the emotions of results day.
“I am just as tense as the students,” says Tombs, who arrived at the school at 05:30.
“There were a lot of conversations about how grades might be lower than last year which was a concern but it’s looking very, very good.”
Tombs has spent the morning reminding students that no matter what grades they have received, they have options.
“While today might feel like the end of the world, it isn’t," she says. "There are things we can do."
“It’s important to take a breath, look at the biggest picture and then get some help. Most colleges have people like me who you can talk to. They will listen and put you in the right direction," she says.
Image source, AlishaAlisha with her A-level results
Our colleagues at Radio 5 Live have been hearing from students around the country about their results.
Alisha in Barrow-in-Furness has achieved two A*s and an A in her A-levels and will be heading to Edinburgh University to study politics.
She says the moment she stepped out of the door to go get her results, she felt "violently ill".
Jack in North Tyneside says his results "went absolutely fantastic" after achieving one A and two B's.
"University isn't for me," he says, "but I know that should I want to go, the option is there."
He plans to look for an apprenticeship programme in sales and accounting.
Image source, AmeliaAmelia is looking at re-taking one of her exams.
Amelia was hoping to get in to Oxford University but narrowly missed out on the grades needed.
She was hoping for three As, but achieved an A*, A and B and is now looking at appealing or re-taking the exam and applying again next year.
"Some of us feel like we maybe didn't get the chances other years had before Covid," she says.
Image source, Getty ImagesEnglish literature is no longer one of the most popular A-levels in the UK.
The number of students taking exams in the subject dropped by 9.4% compared with last year - the biggest drop in any single subject, according to the Press Association.
The increase in the popularity of geography was reported to be behind English literature's fall out of the top 10.
The top five A-level subjects ranked by popularity remain the same this year.
They are maths, psychology, biology, chemistry and history.
A-level results day usually sees a raft of famous faces reassuring students that future success is not determined by their grades.
This year is no different, with TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson continuing his annual inspirational tweet tradition which started in 2014.
Among the things he's been thankful for over the years since receiving his results have been owning , externalmultiple luxury cars, holidaying , externalin a French villa, travelling , externalby superyacht and eating truffles, external for breakfast.
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Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent
Girls performed better than boys across the board in this year's A-levels.
That includes the top grades.
In total, 37.4% of girls' entries were A* and A grades, compared with 35.2% of boys' entries.
That gap is smaller than in 2021, when grades were based on teachers' assessments. That led to 46.9% for girls and 42.1% for boys.
But, crucially, it is still bigger than in 2019, the last year that exams were held as normal before the pandemic. Back then it was 25.5% for girls and 25.4% for boys.
It's important to remember that exams weren't back to normal this year.
Special measures were introduced for this year's A-levels to counteract the disruption to education caused by Covid, such as pupils having advanced information about topics.
Today marks the end of a nervous wait for teenagers across the country as they receive their A-level results.
It is the first year since 2019 that the results are based on formal exams.
Queues formed at Barnsley College Sixth Form this morning as students waited to find out how they had done
Image source, PA MediaNagma Abdi (left) and Zuhoor Haibe opened their A-level results at Ark Putney Academy in south-west London
Image source, Getty ImagesIn Swansea, Wales, Si Tong Xie said she was pleased with her grades
Image source, PA MediaThese pupils in Enfield, London, were among teenagers across the country checking their results after they were made available to students from 08:00
Image source, PA MediaThese students in Norfolk smiled as they checked their results. The number of top grades is up on 2019, but lower than the teacher-assessed levels of 2020 and 2021
Top grades for A-level students in Wales have dipped since 2021, following a return to exams for the first time in three years.
Despite this, 40.9% of grades were at either A* or A, and still much improved from pre-pandemic figures in 2019 when exams were last held.
Welsh students have been also been receiving AS levels, Welsh Bacc and vocational results, including BTecs.
The watchdog Qualifications Wales say they took into account a "most extraordinary" period, meaning that grading had been more generous.
Image source, .Top grades were lower than 2021, but an improvement on 2019 figures when exams were last held
Image source, UcasClearing is a system to match students up with courses that have unfilled spaces.
You can use it if:
More than 70,000 students find university places through clearing each year.
It’s run by Ucas, external and you can find courses with spaces on their online portal. There’s loads of advice on there and on their social media accounts - or their helpline is 0371 468 0468.
If you find a course you fancy, call the university directly. You’ll be asked for your Ucas clearing number and personal ID number, so keep them handy.
Clearing is open until 18 October.
Branwen Jeffreys
Education Editor
A-level grades this year are being managed down to a halfway point between the highs of 2021 when they were assessed by teachers and the last actual exams that took place pre-pandemic in 2019.
At Barnsley College, vice-principal David Akeroyd told the BBC the top grades had dropped very slightly below that expected midpoint.
They were expecting 17% of their students to get an A grade, but it has turned out at 14%, which means around 30 fewer students getting that grade.
The priority now is to make sure students get a fair deal in clearing.
“We’ll be doing everything we can to provide evidence of their ability and how successful they’ll be for the uni of their choice,” Akeroyd says.
A-level student Tiger has found out she's got a place at Oxford University
Tiger, a sixth form pupil at Caldicot School in Monmouthshire, says it's been "really strange" returning to in-person exams after such a long time.
She’s been hoping to get a place at Oxford University to study classics - and has just found out that she's got in.
"It was definitely a really strange experience, as it had been so long since we last had exams,” she says.
“There was quite a bit of pressure, but we got through it."
Assistant head teacher Stuart Bryant said students have demonstrated phenomenal effort and resilience.
“We had to develop online learning, online lessons, with students logging on from home - a totally new way of learning - and they've adapted so well," he said.
"I'm so proud of them all."
Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent
Thousands of students will be starting university as the cost of living soars and many will be wondering whether it's worth the price.
We've taken a look at some of the financial pros and cons:
What does it cost to go to university?
Most student debt comes from tuition fees, which most people pay by taking out a student loan.
Annual fees across the UK are: England: (£9,250), Wales: (£9,000), Northern Ireland (£4,630 for Northern Irish students, and £9,250 for other UK students) and Scotland (free for most Scottish students if they meet the criteria and £9,250 for other UK students).
Then there are accommodation costs (in 2021-22, the average rent for university-owned rooms was £6,227 per year), living and socialising expenses.
Image source, .How do student loans work?
The typical student loan is made up of two elements: loan for the tuition fees - paid directly to the university and a maintenance loan - paid into the student's bank account in instalments.
Students are charged interest on their total loan from the day they take it out and once they have graduated and start earning a certain amount of money, their loans are repaid through the tax system.
Will I earn enough money to make it worth it?
In general, most graduates can expect to earn more than non-graduates, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency. However, it also suggests that the "graduate premium" - the comparatively higher earnings of university graduates - has reduced over time.
Nathan Standley
Education reporter
Surfer Alfie is off to university in pursuit of his dream job as a paramedic
Surfer Alfie, 19, has been speaking to us from his lifeguard stand on the beach in Cornwall.
He's gone straight back to work after getting a Distinction* and two Distinctions in his Child, Health and Social Care Level 3 BTec at Truro and Penwith College this morning.
In September he's off to Bournemouth University to study paramedic science in pursuit of his dream job in paramedicine.
"I'm really happy with it, I feel like all the hard work and doing it all through Covid has finally paid off," he says.
"I couldn't picture myself going to university two years ago, but it just takes a couple of years of keeping your head down to get the results you need."
Outside of study time, he says he's looking forward to catching some winter waves off the beach in Bournemouth.
Don't forget the surfboard Alfie!
As the national A-level results picture emerges, we've been hearing from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) about what students who haven't got a place should do next.
"Don't panic but don't dither" is the advice from Edward Peck, deputy chair of Ucas, who is urging students to make use of the clearing system early.
"Consider your options and make a call to the university you want to go to by lunchtime," he tells the BBC, with pupils also urged to discuss their options with their college adviser.
Image source, .A-level grades received by students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are down on the past two years but remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Grades had been expected to drop back from 2021 levels, when pupils were assessed by their teachers, as part of a transition year which saw marks aiming to reflect a "midway point" between last year and 2019.
The above map shows the percentage of students achieving A* or A grades by region in England this year, with the largest proportion seen in Kent, Surrey and Sussex.