A Level 2025 results, reaction, clearing and more

North Wales Live

a day ago

Thousands of school and college pupils across North Wales will find out what their next step in life could be, after receiving their A Level results today (Thursday).
Following months of hard work and study - followed by a much deserved summer break - today is the culmination of many youngsters efforts, who are eagerly awaiting their results.
Hopefully that will mean happy faces, smiles, cheers and hugs, as students plan what next in their lives, when they find out their grades.
A record number of 18-year-olds are likely to be successful in securing their first choice of university this A-level results day – even if they narrowly miss their grades, the head of Ucas told the PA news agency.
Jo Saxton, chief executive of the university admissions service, said it was a 'good year to be a UK-domiciled 18-year-old' that wants to go to university.
She has suggested that British universities are keen to recruit UK school and college leavers because there is more 'uncertainty' around the international market and which overseas students are going to turn up.
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07:40Steve Bagnall
'We must brace ourselves for stark divides in A-level results this year'
Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said A-level grades have returned to a 'consistent standard' since the pandemic and he would expect that to 'broadly continue' this year.
But Mr Di'Iasio told the PA news agency: 'Unfortunately, we also expect to see the continuation of persistent inequities in terms of performance gaps between different regions and students.
'This is a product of longstanding socio-economic factors which require a much more concerted society-wide effort to fix.'
He added: 'The legacy of Covid is part of this picture, with the disruption caused by the pandemic likely to have had the greatest impact on students from disadvantaged homes.
'Schools and colleges have put huge efforts into supporting these young people, but without sufficient Government action to help them, and in the face of an extremely difficult situation caused by funding and teacher shortages.
'The current Government has made the right noises but unfortunately this has so far not been matched by the improved investment in education which is so clearly required.'
Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said: 'We must brace ourselves for stark divides in A-level results this year — not only between state and private schools, but also between London and other regions such as the South West and North East.
'In recent years, the gap in top grades — As and A*s, the passports to the most selective universities — has grown alarmingly, undermining efforts to widen access.
'These inequities are being driven by a toxic mix of the cost-of-living crisis, rising poverty, persistent school absence, and the long shadow of Covid.
'Unless we act, we risk locking in generational divides that will shape life chances for decades, with all our social mobility indicators now flashing red.'
07:18Steve Bagnall
Students set to get their A Level results today amid concerns over 'attainment gap'
School and college leavers are waking up to their long-awaited A-level results, with more than a quarter of entries expected to score the top grades.
Students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are receiving grades to help them decide whether to progress to university, an apprenticeship or work.
Last year, 27.8% of UK A-level entries were awarded an A or A* grade – the highest proportion outside the pandemic-affected years of 2020-22.
The Covid-19 pandemic led to an increase in top A-level grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams.
In 2019 – the last year that summer exams were taken before the Covid-19 pandemic – 25.4% of UK A-level entries were awarded top grades.
Leaders in the education sector have warned of the possible continuation of 'stark' divides in A-level results between different regions across the country because of the legacy of the pandemic and socio-economic factors.
The Education Secretary has said she will not 'stand by and accept the entrenched inequalities' that blight the life chances of many young people.
The Government's plans for turning around the attainment gap between white working class children and their peers is due to be set out in the autumn.
Students who are receiving their A-level and level 3 vocational and technical qualification results were in Year 8 when schools closed because of the pandemic.
This cohort of school and college leavers received their GCSE results in 2023 – the first year that grading was returned to pre-pandemic levels in England.
In Wales and Northern Ireland, exam regulators returned to pre-pandemic grading in 2024 – a year later than in England.