For the fifth time in a row, A-level grades have taken a hit. The amount of A-A* grades was 25.8% this year, a decrease of 0/1% from last year.
Michael Turner, the director general of the Joint Council for Qualifications, said “overall, outcomes are relatively unchanged.”
Girls have followed the trend of outperforming boys. 79.7% of girls got grades A*-C, with 75% of boys getting the same.
The number of students applying for A-levels has dropped by 13.7%. There has also been a drop in the number of students taking foreign languages. According to Malcolm Trobe, the head of the ASCL Head Teacher’s Union, this could be down to a lack of funding meaning schools cannot afford subjects with typically small numbers of pupils.
Although the results appear unchanged, multiple leaders of teacher’s unions have said there is still unpredictability among individual schools and pupils.
Leader of the NASUWT teacher’s union, Ms. Keates said “Students and their teachers are bracing themselves for greater volatility in this year’s results.”
This is believed to be in part due to the separating of A-Levels from AS levels.
Despite the falling of grades, admission acceptances to University has only grown higher. According to the UCAS admissions services, there has been a 3% rise in acceptances compared to last year.
Yet more places are expected to be available through clearing, even from prestigious Russel Group Universities. There are an estimated 41,000 available places, an increase from last year. Sheffield University received 1800 in the first two hours of opening its clearing service, offering 360 places.
Head of admissions Lynsey Hopkins said “there’s never been a better year to be applying to university in terms of your chances of getting a place.”
Education this year has been called a ‘buyer’s market’ with universities fiercely competing to attract students.
