A-level results: More disadvantaged students set for university than pre-Covid
It comes as hundreds of thousands of pupils receive their A-level grades
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Thousands more students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds have been accepted onto university courses this year compared to the last time students sat A-level exams before the pandemic.
Around 46,800 of this group got the grades needed for their first or second choice university - a rise from 3,770 in 2019, according to Ucas.
“We’re encouraged to see early indications of a continued increase in the rate of disadvantaged students gaining places,” John Blake from the Office for Students said.
It came as hundreds of thousands of pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland found out their marks on A-level results day.
The overall pass rate and proportion of top marks awarded dropped compared to the year before, but is still higher than the last time students took exams.
This was expected under a crackdown on grade inflation that still took into account disruption suffered by this year’s cohort in the Covid pandemic.
Students open A-level results
After weeks of waiting, students have started to find out their A-level results.
There have been gasps, hugs and proud parents:
BREAKING: A-level results: Grades down on last two years but higher than pre-pandemic levels
A-level results down on last two years but higher than pre-pandemic levels
Overall pass rate and proportion of top grades is lower than in 2021
Key points on A-level results
- Overall pass rate has fallen from 99.5 per cent in 2021 to 98.4 per cent this year - but is up from 97.6 per cent in the last exam-sitting year in 2019
- Entries receiving the top grades of A* and A are down from 44.8 per cent last year to 36.4 per cent - but up from 25.4 per cent in 2019
- Proportion of entries graded A* to C dropped from 88.5 per cent in 2021 to 82.6 per cent this year, though it is also up from 75.9 per cent three years ago
Ofqual on exam results
Dr Jo Saxton from English exam regulator Ofqual said: “I felt strongly that it would not have been right to go straight back to pre-pandemic grading in one go but accept that we do need to continue to take steps back to normality.
“These results overall, coming as they do broadly midway between 2021 and 2019, represent a staging post on that journey.”
Famous people who prove you don’t need good grades to be successful
It seems the perfect time for a quick reminder that many successful people did not actually do too well at school.
Here is a look at some of them:
Fifteen celebrities who prove you don’t need good grades to succeed
Sir Richard Branson, Drew Barrymore, Carey Mulligan, Steven Spielberg and Cameron Diaz among the celebrities who went on to triumph after exam disappointment
Students react to A-level results
Here are some more images of students finding out their exam results today:
‘Continued increase’ in rate of disadvantaged students getting university places
John Blake, director for fair access and participation at the Office for Students, says: “We’re encouraged to see early indications of a continued increase in the rate of disadvantaged students gaining places.
“These students may need further support during their course, and universities should bear this in mind as the class of 2022 embark on their degrees.”
Around 46,800 students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds got the grades for their first or second choice university this year, which is a rise on 3,770 in 2019, according to Ucas.
Opinion: ‘My A-level results day was marred by rejection – yours doesn’t have to be'
Harriet Williamson, our commissioning editor, has written about her experience of A-level results day.
“The sheet of paper seemed to blur before my eyes, bearing three A grades ... which meant that I’d got into my first choice of university. But the triumph was tainted,” she writes.
Read more here:
Opinion: My A-level results day was marred by rejection – yours doesn’t have to be
I’m not going to do a Jeremy Clarkson here, and tell you that higher education doesn’t really matter. It does, and that’s why the structural inequality that is very much alive and kicking within our education system is crying out to be addressed
English literature drops from top 10 most popular A-level subjects
English literature has fallen out of the top 10 most popular subjects at A-level for the first time.
It saw the biggest drop in candidates for a single subject, falling by 9.4 per cent from last year.
The increase in the popularity of geography managed to push English literature out of the top 10.
The top five subject rankings by popularity are unchanged this year, with maths, psychology, biology, chemistry and history remaining the top choices for students.
T-level results
The first cohort of students taking the new technical T-level qualification have also received their results today, with the pass rate standing at around 92 per cent.
Just under 32 per cent of the 1,029 pupils receiving results achieved a Distinction.
The T-level qualifications, which are broadly equivalent to three A-levels, offer students practical and knowledge-based learning at a school or college and on-the-job experience.
Many of these are moving onto their first job or an apprenticeship, while around a third have been placed onto a university course, according to the government.
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