Hundreds of thousands of students from across England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been receiving their A-level examination results, with many hoping to secure a coveted place at university.
But Ucas figures have shown that the total number of pupils accepted onto UK degree courses has fallen 2.6% by since 2022, with 414,940 taking up places so far.
Ucas chief executive Clare Marchant said this year’s A-level results have been a “very positive picture” but accepted there has been a slight drop in the number of students getting a place at their first choice university.
When asked about what advice she had for students who didn’t get their first choice should do she said: “Just think about your next step. We have got 29,000 courses in clearing as I sit here today and around 8,000 apprenticeships on Ucas.
“There is plenty of choice. The really key thing if you’re students or a parent, or guardian, is to just take a little bit of time. If you haven’t already done the research to think through what’s right for you.”
With tough competition for university places, every mark and grade counts.
For the sake of transparency, exam boards release grade boundaries on the day results are published.
Boundaries show the minimum mark you need to get a certain grade: for example, you might need a mark of at least 114 out of 180 for a grade C in a certain exam. They also show students how close they were to getting the next grade up, opening the possibility of appealing a result if you think a mistake has been made.
Previously, boundaries were released ahead of time but this was stopped in a bid to reduce stress for students. They change each year to reflect any differences in the demand of the assessments.
Here is everything you need to know about grade boundaries for your exam board
When do A-level results come out?
A-level results day for this year will be on Thursday 17 August.
Results can be picked up from schools and further education colleges any time after 8am on results day. However, you’ll need to find out the exact times from your school as these may vary. Find out more here.
AQA grade boundaries
Grade boundaries are set by senior examiners and assessment experts once all exam papers are marked.
“It’s not until after all the marking has been completed that it’s possible to see how difficult students found the paper (for example, compared to previous years) and so take this into account when setting the boundaries. This means that a student who performed at a certain level should get the same grade regardless of which year they sat the exam,” the AQA website says.
Grade boundaries for this year are now available on the AQA website here.
Pearson Edexcel grade boundaries
Grade boundaries for A level, BTEC National and other level 3 qualifications for summer 2023 will be available here.
GCSE, BTEC First and other level 1 and 2 qualifications boundaries will be available on Thursday 24 August at 8am.
OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and RSA) grade boundaries
Grade boundaries for AS, A Level, Cambridge Technicals, Core Maths, Extended Project and FSMQ will be available on the OCR website here.