A-level results day 2018: Male students outperform girls at top grades

More than one in four A-levels were awarded an A or A* this year – the highest proportion for six years – as boys continue to outperform girls at the highest grades, it was revealed today.

But nervous youngsters fretted about their future this morning as the proportion handed the very top result of A* fell to its lowest level since 2013, while the overall A*-E pass rate dropped to its lowest level since 2010.

Meanwhile initial figures show fewer students have been accepted on to UK degree courses this year. Ucas data shows that 411,860 have taken up places so far, down 1 per cent on the same point last year.

It comes after a drop in applications to start degrees – fuelled in part by a fall in the population of 18-year-olds – and amid major changes to A-levels, with a move away from coursework and modular exams during the course.

Alex Cox (left) and Benjamin Stevens (right) receive results at Mander Portman Woodward College in Edgbaston, Birmingham

Students jump in the air as they celebrate their A-level results at Brighton College in East Sussex this morning

Twins Emily (left) and Molly Goldberg (right) at Merchant Taylor’s Girls School in Liverpool with their A-Level results today

Two young women celebrate their A-level results at Brighton College today as the country’s 18-year-olds find out their grades

Data published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) today revealed that 26.4 per cent of UK entries were given one of the two top grades – up 0.1 percentage points on 2017. This is the highest percentage since 2012.

It is the second year in a row that the A*-A pass rate has risen. Meanwhile, one in 12 (8 per cent) entries scored an A* grade this year, down 0.3 percentage points on last year. This is the lowest it has been since 2013.

The overall A*-E pass rate has also fallen 0.3 percentage points to 97.6 per cent – the lowest level since 2010.

Boys continue to outperform girls at the highest grades, the figures show, with 26.6 per cent of boys’ entries awarded at least an A grade, compared to 26.2 per cent for entries from their female peers.

The statistics also show that Stem subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) are continuing to rise in popularity. More than a third (36.2 per cent) of all A-level entries were in these subjects, up from 34.5 per cent last year, and 28 per cent in 2009.

Boys are still more likely to study a STEM subject than girls, but the balance is shifting, the JCQ said. More girls take biology and chemistry than boys, while more boys take maths and physics.

But the data also shows that girls are closing in on the boys, with a 3.1 per cent increase in maths entries from female students (boys’ entries for the subject have risen 2.1 per cent) and a 6.9 per cent rise in physics (2.4 per cent for boys).

The figures come in the wake of a major exams overhaul – with 24 A-level subjects now reformed.

Grades have been awarded for the first time this summer for new A-levels in languages, geography, dance, drama and theatre, music, PE and religious studies. They join the 13 A-level subjects for which the first grades were handed out last summer.

Maths is in the process of being reformed and a small number of grades were handed out for the new qualification this summer. Most students have been awarded grades after studying the old A-level course.

Overall, the subject is still the most popular A-level, with 2,383 more entries this year compared to 2017.

JCQ director general Michael Turner said: ‘Students and teachers should be congratulated. They can be confident in their grades, knowing they have been achieved in a world-class system that is robust, challenging and fair.’

Sixth-formers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland were able to go online from 8am to see their acceptance, 90 minutes before the A-level results themselves came out at 9.30am.

Phoebe Crane opens her A-Level results at Norwich School this morning as her proud relatives look on

Evie Bateman (left) and Charlotte Long (right) smile as they celebrate their A-level results at Norwich School today

Students throw up paper from their results envelopes as they celebrate at St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School in Bristol

Katie Livings (left) with her parents Marie O’Hara and Simon Livings after achieving A*, A, A, B at The Mount School in York

Students react with shock as they receive their A-level results at Stoke Newington School and Sixth Form in North London

But Rachael Warwick, executive headteacher of Didcot Girls’ School in Oxfordshire, has attacked the pace and quality of the Government’s sweeping A-level reforms.

Stormzy hopes black Cambridge scholarship boost students’ dreams

Stormzy was speaking about his scholarship for black Cambridge University students

Grime artist Stormzy has said he hopes that a scholarship he is offering to help black Cambridge University students pay their tuition fees serves as a reminder to young people from all backgrounds that they have the opportunity to get the best education.

Stormzy was speaking at his former school in Croydon, South London, where A-level students are opening their results.

The rapper said: ‘If you’re academically brilliant don’t think because you come from a certain community that studying at one of the highest education institutions in the world isn’t possible.’

The senior headteacher said the changes were seen as unnecessary by many in the profession and the speed at which they had been brought in made them ‘difficult’ to implement.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today that teachers had been left trying to plan courses and writing textbooks before specifications had been finalised, as well as coping with a lack of past papers to guide exam preparations. 

She said: ‘It has put schools and colleges under immense pressure. Personally I question why that was done and certainly the speed and quality of implementation had a lot to be desired.

‘We would certainly expect in the future a more measured approach to curriculum reform from the Government, and a period of stability.’

However, Education Secretary Damian Hinds said that the redesign of A-levels would make them ‘more appropriate, better (at) preparing young people for moving on to the next stage’, including university.

He told Today: ‘Having exams at the end of the two years means that it is possible to consider the subject as a whole, to bring in all the different parts of it, to synthesise the different aspects of the subject in a way that is a little closer to undergraduate study.’ 

It comes as a new higher education watchdog warned universities offering Clearing places must ‘put the student first’ and not award spots simply to fill up courses. 

Students smile and laugh as they celebrate their A-level results at Brighton College in East Sussex this morning

Grace El-Mokadem (left), who achieved three As, cries as she reacts to her A-level results at Brighton College today

Amanda Georgevic with her daughter Phoebe, 19, today at Mander Portman Woodward College in Edgbaston, Birmingham

Harriet Selway (centre) looks at her A-level results with fellow students at St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School in Bristol

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students said there is a ‘danger’ that students may be unable to cope if they are given places on courses that exceed their ability.

Universities are in fierce competition to attract students after a fall in overall number of people applying for higher education, which could be an advantage to anyone receiving their A-level results today.

However Ms Dandridge said it was important students have ‘both the ability and the support they need to access and succeed on a degree course’.

‘While universities often allow students in with lower grades than advertised, it is important they do so with the student’s interests at heart,’ she told The Times.

‘Lower offers are not appropriate for every student and the danger if grades are lowered drastically simply to fill places is that students may not be ready for the demands of the course and they drop out. Anyone offering places through Clearing should put the student first.’

Clearing is the annual process that allows students without a university place, or who want to switch to a different one, to search for and find a degree course with availability.

Twins Catherine and Gemma King both obtained 5 A*s at Lady Eleanor Holles School in Hampton, South West London

Sarah Granville (left) and Phoebe Delamere (right) celebrate their A-level results at The Mount School in York

A student smiles as she opens her A-level exam results among parents at Lady Eleanor Holles School in Hampton today

(From left) Grace El-Mokadem, Maddie Backhouse, Claudia Ballard and Sophie Plumber read their results at Brighton College

A Press Association snapshot survey suggested that the day before results were due to be released, more than 26,000 courses were available in Clearing for students in England only.

And analysis by the Fashion Retail Academy claimed a record 17,538 students were expected to secure places in the first major phase of Clearing this week after traditional applications slumped by nearly 13,000.

Lee Lucas, principal and chief executive of the academy, said: ‘Clearing used to be seen as a path for rejected students who didn’t get the results they wanted. All that has changed now.’ 

More than half a million students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are receiving A-level results today.

However Ucas said the number of people who have applied to UK higher education courses for 2018 has dropped by around 11,000.

The admissions organisation said it believes the 2 per cent drop, bringing the total to 590,270 compared to the same point last year, is due to there being 18,000 fewer 18-year-olds in the UK population along with fewer applications from older UK-based students.

University leaders suggested that there could be more people who are using Clearing this year to apply to university for the first time.

Ucas has urged prospective students to think carefully about what they want to do and where they want to study, as well as whether they meet the requirements to be accepted on to the course.

Competition among institutions to attract students has also been blamed for soaring numbers of teenagers being given guaranteed degree places, known as ‘unconditional offers’.

More than a fifth of teenagers were handed at least one ‘unconditional offer’ this year, according to Ucas data.

The surge triggered warnings that the credibility of the university system is being undermined and students’ futures put at risk.

The Association of School and College Leaders urged universities to stop the practice, arguing that such offers can lead to students making less effort in their A-levels, which could damage their job prospects later on.

It emerged today that at least one university had promised a financial incentive for students with unconditional offers.

Portsmouth University’s vice-chancellor, Professor Graham Galbraith, told the i newspaper that a £1,000 scholarship his institution offered was a ‘carrot’ to discourage students from slacking off.

‘It is a competitive market and I want the very best students to come here,’ he said.

‘I am conscious and I hear from school partners a real sense of concern that unconditional offers will mean students won’t make any effort at all. That doesn’t do any good either.’

Education Secretary Mr Hinds said he was ‘concerned’ at the ‘rate of growth’ in unconditional offers.

‘The great majority of offers are not unconditional offers,’ Mr Hinds said.

‘They play a role in the system and in some subjects they have always been quite a significant part of the system, art for example.

‘I am concerned about the rate of growth that we have seen in unconditional offers and what that might indicate.

‘That’s why the Office for Students is looking carefully at this issue and they will come back with their findings, and they will make recommendations if anything further needs to be done.’ 

There have been concerns that changes to A-levels were leading to a rise in anxiety and stress in young people preparing for their exams. Mr Hinds said the reforms meant that teenagers would be sitting fewer public exams.

England under-19 cricketer George Lavelle at Merchant Taylors’ School in Liverpool today after receiving three A grades

A student sits down as she opens her A-level results at Lady Eleanor Holles School in Hampton this morning

Jack Parkinson, of Trinity Academy near Doncaster, gained a place at Cambridge University after achieving five A*s today

‘We all have much more awareness these days about mental health in young people and the Government is putting a lot of emphasis on that, both in the health service overall but also specifically in education,’ he said.

Strictly’s Katie Derham is ‘proud as could be’ with daughter’s A-level results

Presenter and Strictly Come Dancing star Katie Derham said she is ‘as proud as could be’ with her daughter’s A-level results.

Natasha Vincent has achieved an A* in theatre studies with Bs in French and English literature at Brighton College.

Natasha Vincent is congratulated by her mother Katie Derham

She has a place to study at the New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts next year.

Speaking to the Press Association, Derham, the 48-year-old BBC Proms presenter and 2015 Strictly finalist, who lives in Sussex, said: ‘I’m as proud as could be. I’m so delighted. She’s done so well. It brought it all flooding back, that slightly sick feeling (waiting to get your results).

‘I’m very envious (of Natasha studying in New York) and it’s such a good school. It’s a good excuse to go and visit.’

Her 18-year-old daughter said: ‘I’m feeling very happy. I got the results I wanted. The grades don’t mean as much to me as my marks. It’s always going to be stressful, I wanted to do well for my parents.

Natasha Vincent celebrates her results at Brighton College

‘I knew I had my place at NYU so I think I found it less stressful than some other people. I’m really excited about moving to New York. It’s the hub of theatre, it’s a great opportunity and a great place to live.’

Before she starts her course she hopes to get work experience with theatre production companies and also get a job, but she is not planning a career in presenting like her mother.

‘I’m not going into presenting. But I’m keeping my options open for later in life. I just want to study drama and see where that takes me.’

Derham joked: ‘No-one wants to do what their mum does.’ 

‘We’ve had our mental health in young people Green Paper recently and a number of reforms are coming through. Universities are looking a lot more closely as well and that is quite right.

‘One thing I would say is that the reforms to A-levels mean fewer exams for many young people because you can do an A-level without having to do big public exams at the end of the lower sixth.

‘We did have a situation where you were doing exams at the end of year 11 with GCSEs, then year 12 with AS-levels and then year 13 with the A2s, and then exams at the end of the first year of undergraduate study.

‘Now, with a two year A-level you are doing exams mostly at the end of that process and it does enable you to get more in depth into the subject and draw together different parts of the subject, and then at the end of the two years to demonstrate in the A-level what you’ve learned and what you can do.’

Last week, the head of an elite group of universities called for maintenance grants to be restored to help improve diversity in higher education.

The Education Secretary said that in February the Prime Minister launched a review of post-18 education and the Government would respond to that.

‘I think it is very encouraging that we have seen not only an increase in demand in applications from 18-year-olds but also significant increases in young people from disadvantaged backgrounds,’ Mr Hinds said.

‘Disadvantaged youngsters are now 50 per cent more likely to go to university than they were back in 2009.

‘That is all very encouraging but we have to keep on looking at all aspects of that and what might be holding some people back.

‘Universities spend a lot of money, over £800 million on access arrangements, and we need to make sure that money is being spent well.

‘More broadly we have a review of education at 18+ overall and the financing of it, and they will be looking at all the different aspects and the Government will respond.’

Mr Hinds was speaking during a visit to the headquarters of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Amanda Brown, deputy general secretary of the National Education Union, argued that A-level changes means that students are unable to fully demonstrate what they can do.

‘Changing the assessment of A-levels so they focus on high-stakes exams taken at the end of two years of study does not allow students to properly demonstrate their ability and puts them under huge pressure,’ she said.

‘Coursework and other non-exam assessments are a better way for students to demonstrate their skills, are less of a memory test, and help lower attaining students and those with special educational needs and disabilities show their achievements.’

One expert has suggested that the proportion of top grades could drop slightly, by less than a percentage point, due to changes to the exam system, and a major hike in the number of unconditional offers handed out by universities.

Mitigating this are a number of factors, including processes put in place by England’s exams regulator Ofqual to ensure that results are comparable and the first cohorts of students to take new courses are not disadvantaged, Professor Alan Smithers of the University of Buckingham said. 

The A-level reforms apply to England only. A subject breakdown shows that there were more entries for A-level Chinese this year than for A-level German. 

In total, there were 3,334 entries for Chinese, up 8.6 per cent on last year, while 3,058 students took German – down 16.5 per cent compared with 2017.

Suzanne O’Farrell, curriculum and assessment specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: ‘We’re seeing German just moving into extinction really. It is in severe decline.’

French remains the most popular language with 8,713 entries, although this is down by 8 per cent this year.

In Northern Ireland, boys have outperformed girls at the top A-level grade for the first time since it was introduced. They overtook girls by 0.4 per cent at the A* grade, which was first awarded in 2010.

The performance gap between the genders also narrowed at the A*-A grade boundary, and it follows concerted efforts to address the disparity by education authorities.

There was a small increase in those awarded the top grade, with just under a tenth earning an A*. Around 30,000 pupils received their A-level and AS results this morning. 

The number of A-level entries declined this year by 5.8 per cent, in line with demographics.

Mathematics was the most popular subject, with one in 10 studying it, closely followed by biology, religious studies, English literature and history.

More than a third of entries involved science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects. There was a small increase in the overall proportion of Stem entries, up to 40.1% this year.

The proportion taking languages decreased slightly, mainly due to a fall in Spanish entries. Music and performing arts saw an increase.

A new life and health sciences qualification proved popular, particularly with girls. Computing subjects saw a rise in entries.

Justin Edwards, chief executive of the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) in Northern Ireland, said: ‘Once again, Northern Ireland’s students have performed well, with a steady and strong performance across all grades.

‘The results are also recognition of the dedication and support provided by teachers and schools.’