"Last year, schools challenged the grading of English GCSEs in the courts, arguing that grades had been unfairly held down, but lost their case.Asked if the exam boards had come under pressure from Ofqual over A-levels this year, a JCQ spokesperson said "absolutely not".Brian Lightman, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said the results showed that A-levels were "stable" and that "minor fluctuations" in grades were to be expected.At the Ucas call centre in Cheltenham, the questions from students seeking guidance and reassurance have been coming thick and fast from early in the morning.
A pupil's results should not depend on which year they sat the exam in, which subjects they studied, and which exam board's syllabus they followed." Maths rose by just under 3% and further maths by 4.5%.Girls are still more likely than boys to get an A* or an A, but boys this year were slightly more likely to get the highest grade - A*.A total of 7.9% of boys' entries got an A*, compared with 7.4% of those of girls.When As and A*s are grouped together, girls perform best - with 26.7% of their entries hitting this mark, compared with 25.9% for those of boys. What to expect from A-level results day, when calculated grades will be issued. On A-level results day, students can find out via the UCAS Track Service if they have gained a place at university. "Examinations should hold no surprises: their role is to validate candidates' ability and hard work. Already tagged. You will also probably find it easier to browse places in the newspaper rather than searching for them on the UCAS website. The number being accepted into a UK university so far is up by 9% at 386,000. A-levels day: 10 mistakes parents make when reacting to results Q&A: What if my A-level results don't make the grade? Staff were answering queries on Twitter and Facebook from 06:00.Overall, the picture looks relatively positive. "We are concerned to see that, nationally, there has been a fall in the top grades once again, suggesting that the exam boards have introduced measures to control these," he said. Ucas says that is in part because demand from students is higher and universities have made more offers. "However, that so few students take a language at A-level is disappointing and although Spanish continues to show growth, the overall trend remains downwards. These are external links and will open in a new window It came in alongside higher tuition fees, which rose to a maximum of £9,000 a year from autumn 2012.About half of the 24 Russell Group universities are among those offering places in clearing - the process that matches students to spare course places - including Durham, Leeds, Nottingham and Birmingham.The results released today are for A and AS-level exams taken by pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.Among the nations, teenagers in Northern Ireland continue to do best - with 83.5% of entries scoring between an A* and a C and 30.7% getting an A or A*.In Wales, the figures are 75.2% and 22.9% respectively and in England, they are 77% and 26.3%.Pupils in Scotland got the results of their Highers and Standard Grades early last week, with the pass rate for both rising slightly.While many teenagers start work at 18, more than half of UK A-level students opt to go on to university. Already tagged.
Schools/colleges can log onto the UCAS Adviser Track Service to see which of their students were successful.
Universities are given individual limits for the number of undergraduates they can recruit with results lower than that.The change was part of a move to increase market forces in England's university system and allow popular universities to expand. A-level students offered helpline support from Meic . 14 August 2013. Already tagged. 5. A-level results day information. 4. Taken at South Thames College - Merton Campus. Universities Minister David Willetts told the BBC this was because of government reforms to open up the system and make it easier for universities "to take on the people that they want to recruit".Under changes, universities in England are being allowed to admit as many top-performing students as they want to.Many will be hoping not to repeat last year's experience, where thousands of course places were left unfilled. It has been rising for about 30 years.As expected, the results show more students are opting to do A-levels in maths and science and there is a continued fall in those taking French and German, down by 10% and 11% respectively.