Well done to all A-level students – the hardest year. But today we are also celebrating the fact that a quarter of students who will go to university in the autumn will have studied a BTec qualification - either a BTec alone or through a combination of BTec and A-levels, which is now the fastest growing route into university. It's A Level Results Day - the day which determines which or if you go to university, and potentially the rest of your life. Many pupils who fled the fire on 14 June turned up to a hastily reorganised exam hall to sit an AS paper in maths. There has been a “modest decrease” in the number of top grades awarded to BTec students, according to the education and publishing company Pearson. We’re working with Stonewall to reflect that in the way we capture information in the future. 'I was sleep deprived and slightly delirious, but absolutely overwhelmed', Worst year for English results since 2012, More boys get top grades than girls for first time in at least seven years, Concern over fall in numbers taking foreign languages, First rise in top A-level grades in six years, A-level results show rise in top grades despite tougher exams, Drop in grades for 'reformed' A-levels unlikely to be down to difficulty, Flunked your A-levels? Share this. Here are four charts outlining the key differences We hope you have found our coverage enjoyable, informative and edifying. I find (personally) the standardisation scripts are very poorly annotated and I can’t always clearly see how a grade has been allocated to the content in a script. It’s perhaps the toughest ever recruitment season for universities – so they can use all the help they can get on their Clearing hotlines. On behalf of everyone at Ucas, well done and best of luck for your studies. A-level results day 2017: Boys could rival girls for top grades. For a lot of A-level students, today is going to be a day of rapid plan changing as they try to find a university place to fit their grades. Ofqual head reassures students they will not lose out this year after 13 A-level subjects changed to new format, Available for everyone, funded by readers. There is not a challenge facing the world today which can be solved by looking through a scientific lens alone. I’d managed to achieve A*s in English literature, biology and law. Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett has some social media advice for A-level students today: By all means celebrate – you’ve worked hard as a guinea pig in what amounts to an untested new exam system – but spare a thought for those who haven’t done as well as they hoped today. #UniAdvice, Freshers Week is overrated, it's 100% okay if you don't feel settled in and fitted in straight away. Results day is possibly the most nerve wracking day of the entire calendar, and at 8am today, I was preparing myself to receive three AS grades, and one A-Level grade, as I had had to complete my German A-level in a year, due to sixth form funding cuts and a lack of intake. How did you do? Enterprise . On Tuesday we published the stories of five people whose results did not meet their expectations, who told us how they had gone on to enjoy personal success despite their disappointment. But for now, I’m just going to enjoy the fact that making myself into a revision-obsessed, pyjamas-every-day, stay-at-home hermit really did pay off! Beren and Chester Wilkinson from Gosford Hill School, a state secondary in Oxfordshire, managed just that today. While the proportion of top A level grades rose this year, the number of university places allocated fell, with tens of thousands of places still available on clearing day. A-level results show first rise in top grades in six years; Public. Tes Reporter 12th August 2017 at 12:02am. From 12.01am, exams office staff and heads of centre only can see results on these systems: Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and A2C (make sure you click 'Send/Receive' to force A2C to check for files) as 'e-documents' on e-AQA, our secure extranet. I feel the board are often too harsh on the upper end when answers are really sophisticated and should get top band, and often too generous on the lower and middle. The exam boards were very unhelpful, particularly with the English non-examined assessment (basically coursework). Relevant to. If you were also an examiner, tell us your stories here. A frenzy of activity leading up to A-level results day is building, now that clearing is of increasing importance to university balance sheets. I have been awarded an A grade as an examiner in previous years. That said, BTec students are likley to have had a different classroom experience to A-level students, so universities can’t offer a “one size only” approach to teaching and learning support. But the figures for Chemistry, while relatively marginal numbers, also are interesting - last year 0.2% more girls got A*-C grades than boys but that trend has now reversed with 0.2% more boys getting A*-C grades than girls. For some it will be a day of joy, for others a day of re-planning This is a decrease of 7,570 people (2%), compared to A level results day last year. The combination of a BTec and a degree also offers a sizeable wage premium. Published on Aug 17, 2017 Another year, another set of incredible A Level results ⭐️ See how the day unfolded at Crosskeys & BGLZ right here. Our teachers were not allowed to provide any substantial feedback on our works, which seems to undermine the learning process, as there is no opportunity for development or improving. We don’t do that currently, but it is something we are looking at. For many businesses, August is a quiet time. Advertisement. cambridgenews Load mobile navigation. Thu 17 Aug 2017 15.27 BST It is a significant applicant pool that merits special attention. The reformed exams include many popular subjects, such as English, history, physics, biology, chemistry and psychology. But exam bosses said conversations are taking place with the charity Stonewall to address the growing need to reflect societal change. Skills such as the ability to appraise evidence critically, to persuade, negotiate, and unravel complexity will be crucial. Last week, our student blogger Aisling Wood explained why she decided to turn down all five of her uni offers: Money worries are certainly a factor, and this type of learning isn’t for everyone. Get your team aligned with all the tools you need on one secure, reliable video platform. While among b0th boys and girls, 24.3% were awarded either A or A*, the figures actually represent a significant decline for girls. But others, including maths, will not be examined in their new form for the first time until next year. Ministers and teachers will also be watching the results closely, in particular for changes in the share of A and A* grades, which has fallen in the past five years. 'I was sleep deprived and slightly delirious, but absolutely overwhelmed', Worst year for English results since 2012, More boys get top grades than girls for first time in at least seven years, Concern over fall in numbers taking foreign languages, A-level results show rise in top grades despite tougher exams, Drop in grades for 'reformed' A-levels unlikely to be down to difficulty, Flunked your A-levels? And also bear in mind that, though it might feel like it, life isn’t some linear track on to which you are now irrevocably attached, always moving forwards, onwards, upwards. Ahead of results day, the speculation has been that with the reintroduction of end-of-course exams, that could be reversed and the performance of boys may start to improve. As of midnight, 416,310 applicants have been accepted into higher education through UCAS. A-level results day 2017: boys outperform girls in reaching top grades - as it happened A-level results show first rise in top grades in six years Schoolgirl campaigner Malala … The proportion of top grades awarded in 2011 was 27%, but by last year that slid to 25.8%. This is the day before students receive their results. A-level results day 2017 - As it happened By Robert Cox Education Published: Aug 17, 2017 A-level results students across the Black Country and Staffordshire find out their fate. Universities, which find out applicants’ A-level results a few days in advance, inform Ucas of their decision ahead of results day. Sharon Hague, senior vice president of Pearson, which runs the Edexcel exam board, said: This is something that young people feel strongly about. Let us know about the day here and we will use your responses in our reporting. A Level results day 2017: When is it, latest on UCAS and clearing It could also be because the uni or college is waiting for results from other qualifications included in your offer, like GCSEs. The biggest shift was in Physics, where the gap between boys and girls’ performance was narrowed by 2.5%. From boys starting to outperform girls, to changes in subject popularity and regional differences, A-level results day in 2017 has been like no other. A-Level results day is on August 17 this year, so it's time to start preparing for the big day. Students taking Maths and art and design subjects fared much better, with more than one in six Maths students and one in eight art and design students seeing stars. International examples show that a broad curriculum allows school-leavers to develop a wide range of skills and interests. The provisional data indicates the five most popular BTecs studied this year are: Rod Bristow, president of Pearson in the UK, said: Today is a day we rightly celebrate the success of our A-level students, and I wish them every success as they prepare for higher education. My next steps will include pursuing the two things I love most: journalism and photography. Generally people in my school were fairly happy with their results today but some felt hard done by as they didn’t get what they were capable of – maybe due to the new system. Here’s a quick summary of the day’s main news points: If you’re a student celebrating our commiserating over your grades, we hope you enjoy the rest of the day. You will make friends and memories that will last a lifetime, and have the chance to learn in a world-leading education sector. Key date. Not too sure about logging into track, when I had my results in 2017 I logged into track the normal way. Advertisement. Sponsored articles. A-levels are often pitched to students like they will determine the entire future of their lives, and yet poor results are not the end of the world. Ofqual uses a calculation known as “comparable outcomes” to link A-level grades to results achieved by the same pupils at GCSE, to guard against grade inflation and to ensure that the grades of each year group reflect its ability overall. “We’ve had packs that give us scripts on how to deal with certain scenarios, we’ve had mock calls, done a bit of role play. Many complained that the changes had been rushed, with teachers and students struggling to master new syllabuses, hindered by few sparse materials and out-of-date textbooks. How did you find the new exam system? How to enter clearing with confidence. And if you’re a teacher or education professional, we’ll see you again next year. We shouldn’t force students down a narrow path at a time when they should be expanding their perspectives. “We take details of the course and if the student’s qualifications meet requirements we put them through, if they haven’t we offer them a different option - like a related course or a different campus,” Rowland says. Now she has won a place at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, to study philosophy, politics and economics, or PPE. Read on and be reassured: Today is A-level results day, when tens of thousands of teenagers around the country will find out the grades that will determine whether they go to university and where. What is the mood at your school today? I haven’t shut the door, just opened another. “These results would be important in any year, but coming so shortly after Grenfell they are particularly welcome. Our reporter Amelia Hill has written the full story behind Malala Yousafzai’s A-level results and her award of a place to study PPE at Oxford this September. It’s definitely not so for universities. With the government encouraging youngsters to study science, technology, engineering and maths-related subjects (the so-called Stem subjects that are said to be essential for British economic competitiveness), entries for English and History were down 5.6% and 6.8% respectively. But A-level students aren’t the only pool to recruit from; there are growing numbers of potential applicants holding BTec qualifications. There are the kids who get superlative A-level results on their birthday and then there’s the twins who get superlative A-level results - so brace yourself for the twins who get superlative results on their birthday. The hubbub of several conversations going on at once and number of TV screens showing live graphs creates a sense of urgency akin to a mini stock exchange. This year I felt quite alone. “This remains a very difficult time for our community but our exam success shows that, even in very difficult circumstances, our students and staff are resilient and capable of achieving the very best.”, Head boy Kai Chappell said: “I’m really happy and proud of my results day – and there are lots of smiling faces around today which is really great to see.”. You can also use the Guardian app and search for “GuardianWitness assignments”. I was very nervous going in to get my results as I hadn’t checked Ucas Track because if I hadn’t got what I wanted then I didn’t want to have to wait to find out why. You can search around 45,000 courses with clearing vacancies on ucas.com – you’ll need to contact universities and colleges directly to discuss the courses you’re interested in before deciding if you want to accept an offer. The stress doesn’t stop now, either – it’s straight on with personal statements, filling in forms for Ucas, and trying to figure out how on earth to get your life together today. We will have a full version of this analysis up soon. If you have not done as well as you had hoped, try not to worry – you have plenty of options, and every year many people who have missed out on their grades find high quality and rewarding courses through Clearing. It has forced me to improve my subject knowledge across plays and novels I don’t teach. You can share your stories with us here. I can’t wait to tell my mum. The pair were among the two-thirds of pupils at the school who gained A*s in maths. 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