Here is a summary of the most important figures you need to know from this year’s A-level results:

Thanks for joining our live coverage of A-level results today as students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their grades.

Here’s a closing summary of the main talking points from the day:

While the live page is closing, there still remains plenty of A-level content on the MailOnline website.

Many thanks for joining and congratulations to all students who received their results today.

Thanks and goodbye.

Data from the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), which covers A-level exams across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, shows physics is enjoying a resurgence with entries up 12.3% compared to last year.

The subject leap-frogged economics to become the ninth most popular subject this year.

Claire Thomson, executive director of regulation and compliance at the AQA exam board said there was no definitive information or data on why subjects are popular, but there could be many factors involved.

She said: ‘It’s really great to see the jump in physics. I wonder if that’s about students wanting to gain an understanding of one of the basic principles of how the world works. It’s quite a dynamic, ever-evolving area with new breakthroughs all the time.

‘And I have read that it’s a subject that’s taught very well at A-level and again can enhance career prospects.’

Tom Grinyer, chief executive at the Institute of Physics, said the increase has taken the subject ‘back to levels not seen since the 1990s.’

He said: ‘This is fantastic news, not just for young people themselves but for our society and economy.’

Let’s remind ourselves of just how momentous today is for students as they received their A-level results across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

To get a sense of the emotions involved in learning the results, take a look at our snapshot below:

by Mark Duell

A high-achieving East London state school in one of the capital’s poorest boroughs broke its own record today after 150 students achieved straight A* grades at A-level.

Brampton Manor Academy had 349 pupils get either an A* or A in all their subjects, and 50 of them will now be going to Oxford or Cambridge universities. Over 90 per cent of the cohort are heading to one of the 24 leading Russell Group institutions.

The school in Newham now sends more students to Oxbridge than Eton College, with more than 400 going in the 12 years since it opened its sixth form in 2012.

And Brampton Manor is now the world’s top school for Oxbridge entry, having sent 85 pupils to the prestigious universities in 2022, up from 57 in 2021 and 53 in 2020.

Many of the high achievers at the school are from ethnic minority backgrounds, in receipt of free school meals or will be their family’s first to attend university.

A student whose mother died from cancer weeks before sitting her A-levels is going to Cambridge after achieving straight A*s.

Francesca Morgan said her mother Faustina, who taught her at home until her GCSEs, would be ‘immensely proud’.

Francesca, 18, was home-educated for eight years, completing her first GCSE in Mandarin at 11 years old, and going on to achieve nine GCSEs with top grades of 8s and 9s.

She then joined Dame Allan’s Sixth Form, an independent school in Fenham, Newcastle, months before her mother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. She had never smoked.

Faustina, who moved from Malaysia to the UK in her early 20s, learned of her daughter’s offer from the University of Cambridge before passing away in April this year, just weeks before Francesca sat her A-level exams.

Speaking today, Francesca said:

A schoolboy is believed to have become the youngest person ever to pass A level maths with a Grade A* – at the age of 10.

Kautilya Katariya achieved the top grade in the subject – eight years earlier than most students sit their exams.

The boy genius already holds the record for being the youngest qualified computer programmer in the world, which he achieved at just six-years-old.

And then two years later he achieved the highest possible marks in GCSE maths aged eight after teaching himself the subject online during Covid lockdowns.

The computer whizzkid has now aced his A-Level exam after studying with students seven and eight years older than him at Wootton Park School, in Northampton.

The Year 5 pupil hopes to next study A-level further maths and physics – alongside his Year 6 SATS – and said he planned to celebrate by having a Subway sandwich.

He also has grand plans to become the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs having already developed AI software and intends to set up his own company.

Speaking today, Kautilya said he found the A-Level exam ‘pretty easy’.

by Mark Duell, Oliver Price and Jaya Narain

Thousands more students are awarded top A-level grades compared to last year

The proportion of A-level entries awarded top grades in England, Wales and Northern Ireland has increased on last year and remains above pre-pandemic levels.

Hundreds of thousands of UK students received their exam results today in a year when grading was expected to be restored to 2019 levels in all three nations.

More than a quarter (27.8 per cent) of UK entries were awarded an A or A* grade, up by 0.6 percentage points on last year when 27.2 per cent achieved the top grades.

This was also higher than in 2019 – the last year that summer exams were taken before the pandemic – when 25.4 per cent of entries were awarded A or A* grades. And this year is also the first time that top A-level results have risen since 2021.

Meanwhile, the total number of students accepted on to UK degree courses has risen by 3 per cent on the same point last year – with 425,680 taking up places so far.

Some 243,650 18-year-old applicants from the UK were accepted at a university or college this year, compared to 230,600 in 2023 – a rise of 6 per cent. And 82 per cent of all applicants got a place at their first choice – up from 79 per cent last year.

A social mobility expert says today’s A-level results show regional disparities across the country which led to a ‘two-tier’ education system.

Results show London saw the highest proportion of entries awarded A and above, at 31.3%, up 1.3 percentage points from 30.0% in 2023, while the East Midlands had the lowest, at 22.5%, up 0.2 points from 22.3%.

Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at Exeter University, said more must be done to create a level playing field to allow all teenagers to reach their potential, regardless of where they live.

Prof Elliot Major told the PA news agency:

We can now bring you the story of another Ukrainian refugee who is today celebrating his A-level results after he fled his country during the Russian invasion.

Daniel Kuska achieved an A* in Russian, B in Maths as well as a merit in IT to earn himself a place at the University of Leicester to study engineering.

Daniel had to leave his home on the outskirts of Odesa, after Russian troops invaded in February 2022 and came to the UK to live with his aunt.

The 18-year-old student at Bitterne Park sixth form in Southampton, Hants, said the results took ‘hours of work’ and that it was incredibly difficult to study so far away from home.

by Greg Heffer

A former Tory education minister has claimed the party was ‘wrong’ to attack ‘Mickey Mouse’ degrees while in government.

Robert Halfon, who served as universities minister when Rishi Sunak was prime minister, said the phrase was ‘an insult’ to students.

During the general election campaign, Mr Sunak promised to curb the number of ‘poor quality’ university degrees and instead fund 100,000 apprenticeships.

The ex-PM had previously attacked ‘rip off’ courses and vowed to limit the number of students a university can recruit to a course if it was not delivering good outcomes.

Such courses were dubbed ‘Mickey Mouse’ degrees, but Mr Halfon has now blasted his former colleagues over the use of the term.

A teenager who couldn’t speak any English when she moved to the UK has achieved an A in the subject in her A Levels.

Oana Tudor, 18, also got a A* in history and an A in religion philosophy and ethics alongside her incredible grade in English literature after studying at Swindon Academy.

Despite not being able to speak English when she moved to the UK from Târgoviște, Romania in 2009, she’s now secured a place at the University of Cambridge.

Oana said:

Oana says her former school struggled to help her with her Oxbridge application as they ‘didn’t have much experience’ with the process.

But despite this, she still managed to beg a place at the University of Cambridge’s Corpus Christi College and is the first in her family to go to university.

Oana said she hopes to work as a solicitor in criminal or medical law after graduating from university.

While 82% of students who received their A-level results were accepted by their first-choice university, many of those who haven’t will now go through Clearing.

Clearing is the process that matches applicants to university places that are yet to be filled.

It’s available to anyone who has made a UCAS Undergraduate application and doesn’t hold any offers.

Bournemouth University’s Dr Shelley Thompson, the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Student Experience, has contacted us with some advice for those searching for other options:

One student successfully built his own nuclear fusion reactor at college as part of his Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), for which he achieved an A* in his results today.

Cesare Mencarini, 17, had to convince his teachers it wasn’t dangerous before embarking on the 18-month project – thought to be the only nuclear reactor built in a school environment.

Cesare achieved top grades in maths, further maths, chemistry and physics while studying at Cardiff Sixth Form College in Wale and intends to apply for an engineering course next year.

He said he hopes to ‘encourage other young people to develop ideas’ and think about how they improve the world.

By MailOnline’s Femail reporters

Students across the UK today will be nervously collecting their A-level results and finding out if they got into the university of their choice.

But whether you’re celebrating or disappointed, chains across the UK are offering freebies and discounts to those picking up results.

Nando’s and Frankie & Benny’s are offering everything from free pizza’s, chicken and sides and some are even offering discounts on the final bill.

Most of the offers will also be available on GCSE results day August 22 also so no one misses out.

Here Femail reveals the best of the deals on offer. Most require you to provide proof of your A-level results as well as ID.

MailOnline’s data journalists have compiled a series of interactive maps, charts and graphics following the release of A-level results earlier today.

They cover a wide range of topics including grades across all subjects and the proportion of students who achieved A or A* marks in your area.

Click into the story for more:

This was the moment one A-level student opened her results live on television

Ikram Dehiles told Sky News she was nervous before learning she scored three A grades for sociology, psychology and English literature.

The student from St Mark’s Academy in south London said, ‘I wasn’t expecting that’ as classmates cheered her achievement.

Watch the video below:

Eastbourne College is celebrating pupils who have secured admissions at Oxbridge as well as prestigious universities in the US.

Two students Rebecca Fisher and Annabel McKenna both secured tennis scholarships to study at Monmouth University in New Jersey and the College of Charleston in West Virginia.

Rebecca (left) will read history, philosophy and mathematics, while Annabel will study English, philosophy and politics.

Rebecca, 18, said: The guidance, support and understanding by all members of staff when balancing sixth form life with my intense tennis programme made the process of applying to US universities so much easier. After being granted a 100% tennis and academic scholarship to a Division 1 university, sharing my achievements with my coaches and teachers was a wonderful moment.

Annabel, 18, added: ‘When applying to the US for sport and academic scholarships, it would have been so much harder without the incredible support of my coaches and teachers.’

Twin sisters Nicola and Victoria Tsang achieved exactly the same set of A Level results – two years after managing identical GCSEs.

Opening the results earlier at Benenden School in Kent, they both achieved A* grades in Economics and A grades in Maths and Physics, while they both also earned an A* in the EPQ – a research project similar to a mini dissertation.

It comes two summers after they recorded the same grades in the same subjects at GCSE.

Victoria (right), the older sibling by one minute, said: ‘I was saying yesterday what happens if we get the same results again and we both said that won’t happen. We’ve had different grades in our mocks in the run-up to the exams so I can’t believe it’s happened again.’

Nicola added: ‘We saw that we had both got our first-choice universities so it was only then that we checked our grades. We compared our grades and thought not this again – this time I didn’t expect it to happen.

The sisters, from Hong Kong, have lived and studied together at the school since they were 11 but will now be going their separate ways at different universities as Victoria heads off to Cambridge while Nicola is starting at London School of Economics.

Ucas figures released this morning show the number of 18-year-olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds in the UK to gain places on courses has reached a record high.

Overall, 27,600 of UK 18-year-olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds have accepted a degree place, up 7% on 25,800 last year and on the previous record of 26,650 in 2021.

Meanwhile, the number of international students who have been accepted on to courses stands at 51,170, down slightly on 51,210 last year.

Accepted applicants from China (10,950) are down 6% compared with last year.

Here’s one surprising nugget in the results released today.

In A-levels, boys have pulled further ahead of girls at the top grade this year, with 9.5% of boys’ entries scoring an A* compared with 9.1% of girls’ entries – a gap of 0.4 percentage points.

Last year the gap was 0.3 percentage points.

Boys have traditionally led girls, scoring more A* grades than their female classmates every year between 2012 and 2019. But girls overtook boys between 2020 and 2022 – the years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Girls continued to outperform boys at A* and A but the gender gap has narrowed again this year.

Terrified of the daily air raid sirens over Kyiv at the start of the Ukraine war, Anna Ursakii and her family decided to flee.

Their journey west involved travelling through 10 different countries before she finally made it to northern Italy.

From there she emailed schools at the top of the UK rankings and was thrilled to be awarded a place at the prestigious Brighton College under the school’s pioneering scholarship system.

Today, Anna, 17, has won a place at the University of Cambridge to study Natural Sciences after she achieved four A* grades in four A Levels.

Her achievement at gaining a place at one of the world’s most coveted universities is even more astonishing given English is her second language.

Head teacher Richard Cairns says Anna threw herself into life at £43,000 a year Brighton College, becoming a member of the award-winning chamber choir and part of the dance show team.

During her time at the college she made sure to keep the war in the forefront of everyone’s minds.

Anna, who arrived at the school in 2022 with her six-year-old brother Sasha, said:

Maths remained the most popular A-level subject this year for the 11th year in a row.

It had 107,427 entries, up 11% from 96,853 in 2023.

Psychology remains the second most popular subject with 78,556 entries, down 2% from 80,493 in 2023.

While Biology was once again in third, with 74,367 entries, a fall of 0.4% from 74,650.

Chemistry, History, Business Studies, Sociology, Art & Design, Psychics and Economics make up the top 10.

Ofqual’s chief regulator Sir Ian Bauckham told a briefing that exam standards had been maintained from last year amid expectations the levels would fall to pre-pandemic levels.

He said:

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

It comes after the Covid-19 pandemic led to an increase in top grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams.

These are the latest pictures we can bring you of students celebrating their A-level results at Solihull School in the West Midlands.

In the West Midlands, the proportion of A* and A grades awarded to pupils was 24.8%, up from 22.9% the previous year.

Every region of England has seen a year-on-year increase in the proportion of A-level entries awarded A and above, the 2024 exam figures show.

All regions also saw a higher proportion of entries awarded A* or A this year than in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

London saw the highest proportion of entries awarded A and above, at 31.3%, up 1.3 percentage points from 30.0% in 2023, while the East Midlands had the lowest, at 22.5%, up 0.2 points from 22.3%.

In 2023, north-east England had the lowest proportion of entries awarded A or above, at 22.0%, while south-east England had the highest, at 30.3%: a gap of 8.3 points.

But this year the gap between these two regions narrowed to 6.9 points (north-east England 23.9%, south-east England 30.8%).

Meanwhile, the proportion of entries awarded A and above in Wales and Northern Ireland has fallen sharply year on year, as these nations complete the return to pre-pandemic levels of grading.

In Wales, the figure has dropped from 34.0% in 2023 to 29.9%, while in Northern Ireland it has decreased from 37.5% to 30.3%, though both of these are still above the 2019 pre-pandemic figures of 26.5% and 29.4% respectively.

Here are the percentages of A-level entries awarded the top grades (A*/A) by region, with the equivalent figures for both 2023 and the pre-pandemic year of 2019:

Here they are by nation:

And the overall figure:

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) has now published national figures giving us the picture of how well the class of 2024 has done with their A-level results.

The results have many categories and are broken down by country and region so there will doubtless be plenty of statistics thrown around today.

So here’s a brief summary of what you need to know:

We will continue to bring you news and reaction throughout the day plus the most heartwarming stories from students across the country.

We can now bring you the national picture following figures from the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), covering A-level results in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

It shows the proportion of A-level entries awarded top grades is up on last year and remains above pre-pandemic levels.

Hundreds of thousands of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their exam results on Thursday in a year when grading was expected to be restored to 2019 levels in all three nations.

More than a quarter (27.8%) of UK entries were awarded an A or A* grade, up by 0.6 percentage points on last year when 27.2% achieved the top grades.

This was also higher than in 2019 – the last year that summer exams were taken before the pandemic – when 25.4% of entries were awarded A or A* grades.

Overall, the proportion of UK entries awarded the top A* grade this year has risen by 0.4 percentage points to 9.3%, compared with 8.9% in 2023, and it is higher than when it stood at 7.7% in 2019.

Excluding 2020-2022, the years of the pandemic, this is the highest proportion of A* grades awarded since they were first handed out in 2010.

Scenes like this will be taking place up and down the country today…

Carys Bonell and Ava Doherty literally jumped for joy as they celebrate their results at Harris Westminster Sixth Form in London this morning.

We will endeavour to bring you the best stories and pictures from students across the country as well as what the results mean nationally throughout the day.

Sir Keir Starmer has congratuled all students receiving their A-level, T-level and BTEC results today and told them ‘nothing should hold you back’ going forward.

The Prime Minister posted the following tweet on his X account:

by Elizabeth Haigh

Jeremy Clarkson has posted his now obligatory A-level tweet as tens of thousands of students anxiously await their results this morning.

The presenter and Clarkson’s Farm star’s annual results day message has become a traditional tenet for worried teenagers as they find out what grades they have achieved throughout the morning.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday Clarkson wrote: ‘Don’t worry if your A level results aren’t what you were hoping for. I got a C and two Us, and here I am, 46 years later, with my own pub. It opens next weekend if you fancy dropping in.’

The presenter typically takes to social media to reassure students who didn’t get the results they were hoping for that there are still plenty of opportunities they can take advantage of.

Many students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will have had nervous nights before picking up their results first thing this morning.

So I expect many will relate to Kitty, a student at Burnley College, who spoke to the BBC about what she went through before receiving her letter.

Asked how she felt after she got her results, Kitty told the BBC it was like a ‘weight lifted’, adding, ‘I’ve been waiting all summer to see how I did’.

She also said she was up ‘every half hour’ last night before heading into the college in Lancashire.

See the video below:

We can now show you pictures from across the country as students open their A-level results.

The following pictures were taken from Parrs Wood High School in Didsbury, Greater Manchester and King Edward VII High School for Girls, an independent school in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

A-level students applying for courses at universities will have more availability than in recent years following a reported drop in demand from mature and international students.

The Daily Telegraph is reporting almost 27,000 courses were available through clearing on Wednesday, with the figure expected to rise today as leading universities save space for high-achieving pupils.

That includes 3,500 courses at 17 of the 24 Russell Group universities – a 61 per cent jump compared to last year.

While we won’t have details of the national picture until 9.30am, Bridget Phillipson has told the BBC that A-level results are expected to be ‘broadly in line with last year’.

In 2023, the number of top grades awarded to students with 27.2% of learners achieving A* and A grades, compared to 36.4% in 2022.

The drop came after A-level grade boundaries were made more lenient during and shortly after the pandemic, to balance out the disruption to education caused by Covid.

Watch Bridget Phillipson’s interview here on BBC Breakfast:

Education experts have urged parents and guardians to be mindful of their actions and reactions today as their children open their A-level results.

While some families will spend the day celebrating, others may not be so buoyant.

Tutorial provider Explore Learning has put together a guide for adults on how to support their children:

The role guardians play in helping their children deal with results day anxiety is very important. Asking about specific grades right away can increase anxiety, which can make young people feel lonely and afraid. Instead, allow your teen to share their results in their own time. When they do open their results, focus first on their emotional state and well-being rather than the grades themselves. This approach shows that you value them as a person, not just for their academic achievements.

Comparing results reinforces unhealthy competition and can damage self-esteem. Each student’s journey is unique, and comparing results ignores individual circumstances, strengths, and challenges. Instead, encourage your teen to reflect on their own progress and personal growth throughout their studies.

If results aren’t what was hoped for, resist the urge to start planning next steps immediately. Give your teen time to process their emotions. They may need space to come to terms with disappointment before they’re ready to consider alternatives. When they are ready, approach the conversation as a collaborative effort rather than taking charge.

It may not come as a surprise that the key ingredient in supporting your child on results day is having a positive mindset. Try to focus on their efforts and potential for future growth. Remember that your teen is likely already feeling disappointed if they didn’t achieve the results they wanted. Your role is to provide support and encouragement, helping them to see this as a learning experience rather than a failure.

Most young people will experience a disappointing grade or exam result. However, it’s still important to celebrate their efforts and the hard work they have put into their exams. Remember, a lower score on an exam doesn’t have to mean that they’ve failed. At the end of the day, what truly matters is how much they were able to learn from the entire journey. Strike a balance between acknowledging the importance of the results and reminding them that these grades don’t define their worth or limit their future opportunities. Finally, discuss how these results fit into their broader life goals and aspirations.

Katherine Pavling, Head of GCSE at Explore Learning, says:

We can bring you our first video of the day as students in Derby react to opening their A-level results.

Good Morning Britain spoke to one teenage girl, Nayab Waheed, who secured three A* grades and a B, while her friend Noah achieved three As as he was accepted into Nottingham University.

Watch the footage below:

The total number of students accepted on to UK degree courses has risen by 3% on the same point last year, with 425,680 taking up places so far, initial Ucas figures show.

It shows some 82% of students have successfully got into their first choice university.

A-level results have now been released to students across the UK.

We wil bring you the latest news and reaction when we can.

While we hope many students achieve the results they want and secure places at their preferred universities, thousands will ultimately have to go through Clearing.

Clearing is the process that matches applicants to university places that are yet to be filled.

It’s available to anyone who has made a UCAS Undergraduate application and doesn’t hold any offers.

Here’s MailOnline’s guide on how to conquer it should you need to today:

Thousands of students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will open their A-level results this morning as well as T-levels and BTEC qualifications.

Some will receive results via email while others will collect their letters from schools, giving them a chance to share their experience with classmates and teachers.

The grades will be released from 8am which is also when Ucas. the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, will publish figures on numbers accepted into universities.

From 9.30am we will be able to bring you the national picture on how well the class of 2024 has done with results broken down by country and region.

In the meantime, we should have plenty of reaction from students on their results on this important day in their lives.

by Eleanor Harding, Education Editor for The Daily Mail

Hundreds of degree courses at top universities are being offered to high-paying international students instead of British applicants, the Daily Mail can reveal.

Analysis shows that pupils collecting their A-level results today will have far fewer options than those applying from abroad when it comes to choosing alternative courses through the Clearing process.

Of the 24 top institutions in the Russell Group, 17 have places available through Clearing – and 11 are offering more courses to those from abroad than to those living here.

Overseas students pay much higher fees. Today, more than 250,000 students will find out if they made their predicted grades and secured their course of choice.

It is expected tens of thousands will enter Clearing to find a new course, and admissions chiefs have said there will be ‘every kind of course under the sun’ available, including medicine.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has congratulated students receiving their A-level results and insisted there are ‘lots of options’ for those who fall short today.

Ms Phillipson is currently touring the broadcast studios on the morning round giving interviews to the BBC, Sky News and Times Radio.

Speaking to Sky News, she said:

Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of A-level results day.

Today is the day thousands of nervous teenagers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will learn their exam grades with many of them hoping to go to their chosen universities.

It’s a day that often sees a wide range of emotions as some experience the unbridled joy of achieving the results they need while lingering uncertainty will be felt by some.

Stick with our coverage for the latest news, pictures and reaction from throughout the day.