Students receive A-level results after pandemic and concrete crisis disruptions

School leavers are waking up to their A-level results in a year when some young people had their education disrupted by substandard concrete closing classrooms.

Hundreds of thousands of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are receiving grades to help them progress on to university, an apprenticeship or employment.

Last year, more than a quarter (27.2%) of UK A-level entries were awarded A or A* grades, down on 36.4% in 2022.

But it was higher than in 2019 – the last year that summer exams were taken before Covid-19 – when 25.4% UK A-level entries were awarded top grades.

Just days before the academic year was due to start last year, a number of schools were forced to offer remote learning when reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) was found in buildings.

In England, exams regulator Ofqual has said it expects this summer’s national results to be “broadly similar” to last summer, when grades were brought back in line with pre-pandemic levels.

In Wales and Northern Ireland, exam regulators are aiming to return to pre-pandemic grading this summer – a year later than in England.

The move to restore pre-pandemic standards comes after Covid-19 led to an increase in top A-level and GCSE grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams.

Leaders in the education sector have warned that this cohort of young people has had to overcome a series of challenges in recent years – and those from disadvantaged backgrounds have been hit the worst.

Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, told the PA news agency: “In many ways this is one of the unluckiest cohorts to emerge in the post-pandemic era – blighted by Covid disruption, a cost-of-living crisis not to mention the national crisis of unfit school buildings, and yet at the same time they have received no compensation or extra support in the exam system.”

Department for Education (DfE) figures, as of February 8, show 234 education settings in England have been identified as having the collapse-risk concrete in their buildings.

Of these, 94 are listed as secondary or all-through state schools, while 11 are post-16 colleges.

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), told PA: “I really hope that we don’t see young people being majorly disadvantaged in Raac schools because it will be a travesty on top of something that has already disadvantaged them and put them in a difficult situation.”

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) has said schools and colleges can apply for “special consideration” after Thursday if they feel their results have been affected by Raac disruption during the exam series – such as a “noisy environment” in the exam hall due to nearby building work.

“I would hope that university admissions officers, but also schools and colleges and the whole system, make allowances for these young people because young people have had an incredibly traumatic period and they need all the support they can get right now.”

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Young people deserve enormous credit for what they have achieved, in the face of both the huge disruption of recent years, and in too many cases the inequality that goes hand in hand with young people’s backgrounds.

“I am determined to break down these barriers to opportunity so every young person can pursue their dreams and thrive.

“I hope young people everywhere can celebrate their results and look forward to their next step – be that university, an apprenticeship or beginning their careers.”

T-level results will also be received by thousands of students in England on Thursday, and youngsters across the country will be awarded their level 3 vocational and technical qualification (VTQ) exam results.

Students could face less competition for university places this year due a decline in the proportion of UK school leavers applying to higher education and a fall in overseas demand, education experts have suggested.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the day before A-level results day, a PA sample of 130 of the UK’s largest higher education providers showed there were 22,774 courses with vacancies for undergraduate students living in England on the Ucas clearing website.

A similar analysis last year, carried out the day before A-level results day, showed there were 22,521 courses with vacancies on the clearing site.

Clearing is available to students who do not meet the conditions of their offer on A-level results day, as well as those who did not receive any offers.

Students who have changed their mind about what or where they wish to study, and also those who have applied outside the normal application window, can also use the process.

Rebecca Montacute, head of research and policy at the Sutton Trust charity, told PA: “Young people receiving their exam results today have had to overcome many challenges along the way.

“They lost education time due to the pandemic, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds were particularly affected by the loss of in-person teaching, lack of space and a quiet learning environment at home, lack of devices to learn with, and little social interaction with their peers.”

“These issues have been compounded for pupils who experienced further lost learning in schools impacted by the Raac crisis,” she added.

Scotland has a different qualification system and students received their results on Tuesday last week.

Figures released by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) showed that 77.2% of those sitting National 5 exams passed with grades A to C – down from 78.8% last year.

For Highers, 74.9% passed with the top bands, down from 77.1% last year, and for Advanced Highers 75.3% of students achieved A to C grades, falling from 79.8% in 2023.