Thank you for following our live coverage of the changes to A-level results ahead of students getting their grades tomorrow.

To recap: Education Minister Kirsty Williams has announced that pupils would not get lower A-level grades than what they achieved in their AS results.

The last-minute change comes after alterations were also made for students in England and Scotland, after concerns about the way pupils had been graded during the coronavirus pandemic.

Plaid Cymru said the last-minute U-turn by the Welsh government was "regrettable and avoidable" while the Welsh Conservatives called the move "a vital safety net".

Students who did not achieve the AS-level results they wanted will "still be concerned" ahead of tomorrow's A-level results, the National Union of Students says.

NUS Wales president Becky Ricketts says the announcement of changes to marking gave "certainty and would come as a relief to some students".

But, she added: "Those who did not achieve grades they were satisfied with at AS-level will still be concerned about how their grades have been calculated.

“It remains to be seen whether this measure will prevent a results postcode lottery as was seen in Scotland, and we will closely monitor the situation."

The education minister has defended what has been described as an "11th hour U-turn" in the results system, ahead of Welsh students getting their A-level results tomorrow.

Kirsty Williams says the Welsh government had to act after changes were made in Scotland and England to how results are estimated.

Plaid Cymru slated the last-minute announcement as "avoidable" and "leaving pupils and teachers in limbo".

But Ms Williams told BBC Wales the intervention had to be made today following the changes in other parts of the UK to make sure Welsh students were not "disadvantaged".

She said ministers had "taken steps to ensure students can have confidence they will be on a level playing field" with other students across the UK.

Welsh students' A-level results will be "credible and robust" when they are put to employers and universities, the education minister has said.

Exams were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, and results were due to be based on teachers' estimates, but some were lowered by the exams watchdog, which felt teachers had been too generous in some cases.

Now, the Welsh government has guaranteed no A-level grade will be lower than pupils' AS grade.

Kirsty Williams said basing the results on previous grades, which represented 50% of the A-level grade, meant employers and universities could be assured the grades "were robust and credible".

"Students can be confident that their results are fair," she added.

The last-minute change to the results system is an "admission that the system was flawed from the off", Plaid Cymru says.

The Welsh government announced changes to how A-level results will be calculated today, just hours before students open their results tomorrow.

Plaid Cymru's education spokeswoman Sian Gwenllian said: “This 11th hour U-turn by the minister is an admission that the system was flawed from the off.

“The Welsh government will be marked down severely for leaving teachers and pupils in limbo - and their hard work, initially, unrewarded.

“It is welcome that the minister has listened to Plaid Cymru calls for a free and independent appeals process.

“This will give some comfort to those pupils who have been let down in what was already a time of unprecedented anxiety."

Cardiff Central MP Jo Stevens has welcomed the decision saying it will be a "big relief" for students who have faced such "uncertain times" during the pandemic.

Education minister Kirsty Williams says the changes had to be made to "make sure Welsh students were not disadvantaged" after alterations in England and Scotland.

Earlier in the week the Scottish government apologised to students and announced thousands of results would be upgraded after outcry over results being lowered.

Today, schools in England were told they would be able to appeal if A-level results were lower than what a student achieved in their mocks held earlier this year.

Announcing changes to the system in Wales, ahead of the results being released tomorrow, Ms Williams said: "I am confident that the system overseen by Qualifications Wales, external and WJEC, external, in response to the current emergency, is fair for students and robust in what it measures and signals to employers and universities.

"However, governments in other parts of the United Kingdom have introduced changes to their systems and we must make sure that these alterations do not disadvantage Welsh students."

The change to A-level results is a "vital safety net" for pupils' futures, the Welsh Conservatives have said.

No student should get a lower final grade tomorrow than the one they achieved for their AS-levels, following a last-minute Welsh government order.

Conservative education spokeswoman Suzy Davies said it was the right decision.

"What has been absolutely crucial is to ensure there is a fair system for grading our young people on their A-level results," she said.

“It was vital to see a safety net being implemented in Wales to make sure pupils achieved the grade they had worked towards."

The last minute change to the marking system in Wales was "inevitable", an education expert has said.

Tomorrow, students in Wales should not get A-level results lower than what they achieved in the same subject in their AS-level exams.

It comes after an order from the Welsh government, less than 24 hours before students get their final grades.

Gareth Evans, director of education policy at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, said it was "inevitable" the education minister "would have to intervene" following adjustments to grades in Scotland and England.

"It will be interesting to see what difference the AS adjustment will actually make to learners," he said.

"While it will doubtless be of some comfort to those who performed well at the halfway stage of their A-levels, it will be of scant consolation to those pinning their hopes on boosting scores at the end of the course.

"Issues with the artificial moderation of grades allocated by teachers remains. The right of pupils to challenge their grades as appropriate, is absolutely essential."

Before the pandemic, brother and sister Imogen and Scott Gilmour, from Powys, were preparing to sit their exams.

Scott, 18, was apprehensive after hearing there would be no exams and said he was initially concerned the results would be "less credible".

He's hoping to study law and both he and Imogen, from Meifod, will receive their results via email rather than visiting their school.

"Obviously I hope I do well, but I don't feel it's the end of the world if I don't get exactly what I need," he said.

"I'm not worried I'm going to do terribly but I have thought about the possibility of me not doing as well as I need to to get to university because both of my university choices are quite high requirements."

Imogen intends to stay on to study biology, chemistry, physics and maths at sixth form.

She says: "I'm feeling OK about the whole thing and I'm quite excited that it's getting emailed to us at a specific time.

"It will just be nice to be able to sit there with your family and wait for it."

"I'm quite relaxed about it, I've never been one to worry about exams," says 17-year-old Begw Rowlands, one of thousands of young people waiting for A-level results.

But after exams were cancelled, she says students "haven't been able to do an exam and feel 'that went well' or 'that didn't go as well'."

Begw, from Vale of Glamorgan, always intended taking a year out before applying for drama school.

A Careers Wales survey found 38% of A-level pupils said the pandemic had affected their future plans.

Begw, who studied A-level drama and Welsh, BTEC music and the Welsh baccalaureate, said she was pleased at first when exams were cancelled.

"I was quite chuffed to begin with actually, because no one wants to do exams.

"But, obviously, Year 13 is the pinnacle of your school experience and you kind of want to prove yourself."

Ahead of the publication of tomorrow's results, students are being told to "talk to people" if their results are not what they expected.

"It's natural for young people to be worried about their exam results," Stephen Williams from Careers Wales says.

"If they're not what they were expecting, just take a step back. Try not to get too emotional and try to think about things logically, talk things through with people that are important to them and make contact with us.

"We will help them put things into perspective and start looking at how we get to where you wanted to get to."

Image source, PA Media

Exams were cancelled due to coronavirus, with results being based on how teachers predicted a student would have performed, and a formula then applied by the exam board.

Qualifications Wales, the exams watchdog, had said thousands of A-level and GCSE results would be lowered in a standardisation process, to account for teachers being "generous" and inconsistency across schools and colleges.

Only yesterday, the Welsh government insisted a mass upgrading of A-level results would not be needed in Wales, despite changes in Scotland following outcry from pupils.

In Scotland, about 75,000 pupils are having their results upgraded, after concerns the moderation system unfairly penalised pupils at schools which had historically not performed as well.

And today in England, the UK government announced schools would be able to appeal for an upgrade if their students' A-level and GCSE results were lower than mock exams.

Students are being urged to check their A-level results are not too low.

With the changes to the system being issued less than 24 hours before pupils get their results, Qualifications Wales says the "initial release of results" have already gone to schools and colleges.

The change, from the Welsh government, means no student should get a grade which is lower than what they achieved in their AS for the same subject.

"Therefore, learners receiving their A-level grades tomorrow should look at the grade awarded to see if it is the same, higher or lower than their AS-level grade in that subject," the exam watchdog said.

"If the grade is the same or higher, then no action is required.

If, however, the grade is lower it will be replaced with the same grade as that received for the AS-level - revised grades will be issued by WJEC as soon as possible.

"If necessary, learners wishing to progress to Higher Education should contact their prospective university to advise them of the change."

Any pupil wanting to appeal their A-level results tomorrow will be able to do so for free, Ms Williams says.

She says this will "ensure there is no financial barrier to ensure learners feel their exam grades are fair".

Any student who gets a grade lower than their AS-level result will get a "revised grade automatically issued", the education minister says.

Ms Williams announced changes to the exam results system just a day before pupils get their A-level results.

She said: "If a student receives a final grade tomorrow that is below that of their previous AS grade, then a revised grade will be issued automatically by WJEC.

"This will mean – and I have received assurances from UCAS and universities – that students can speak with confidence to their prospective universities regarding their A-level grades."

Image source, Getty Images

Pupils receiving their A-level results in Wales tomorrow will not get lower grades than their AS-level results, the Welsh government has announced.

Education Minister Kirsty Williams said changes to systems in England must not "disadvantage Welsh students".

"I am giving a guarantee that a learner’s final A-level grade cannot be lower than their AS grade," she said.