Record high for A-level grades as students pick up results
It's after exams were cancelled for the second year
Last updated 10th Aug 2021
The number of A-levels graded A or higher has risen to an all-time high after exams were cancelled for the second year in a row due to coronavirus.
Students across the UK have been picking up their results today (10th August), but most have been given grades determined by teachers, rather than exams, with pupils only assessed on what they have been taught during the pandemic.
Our network of radio stations have had reporters out across the UK as students open their results:
In total, more than two in five (44.8%) of UK entries were awarded an A or A* grade this summer, up by 6.3 percentage points on last year when 38.5% achieved the top grades.
In 2019, when exams were last run before the pandemic, just 25.5% of entries achieved an A or above.
Girls performed better than boys at the top grades, and female maths students overtook boys for the first time in the number of A* grades achieved, figures for England, Wales and Northern Ireland show.
Overall, the proportion of entries awarded the top A* grade this year has surged to 19.1%, compared with 14.3% in 2020 and 7.8% in 2019.
On Tuesday, Ucas said a record number of students have secured a place on their first-choice university course following the bumper year for results.
But youngsters who missed out on the grades required to meet their offers are likely to face greater competition for a place at top institutions as there could be fewer courses on offer in clearing.
Universities Minister Michelle Donelan told our Westminster correspondent that capacity shouldn't be a problem:
The Scottish Highers results were also released today (Tuesday 10th).
School results in Scotland are consistently lower than last year but have shown a sharp rise since 2019, before the pandemic.
For Highers, the rate of students receiving between and A and a C, known as the attainment rate, fell from 89.3% to 87.3%, while the attainment rate for Advanced Higher dropped to 90.2% from 93.1%.
But the figure for Higher qualifications is significantly above the 2018-19 level, which was just 75%, while the Advanced Higher rate increased from 80%.