A-level and T-level results day sets tone for clearing season

Results day for A-levels, AS levels and vocational qualifications is set to arrive on Thursday morning for students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with about a quarter of a million young people finding out whether they have secured a place at their first-choice university. The day also marks the fourth year of the rollout of T-levels, with results due for the technical qualifications that mix classroom study with industry placements. Examiners finalised grade boundaries earlier in the week, and schools will publish results online from 8am, with paper copies or alternative delivery methods arranged by individual institutions.

Universities are entering the new cycle with a degree of caution but also optimism about domestic demand. The head of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service has signalled that the number of 18-year-olds gaining entry to their first-choice university is likely to be a record, reflecting ongoing stability in the domestic market as international student numbers remain uncertain. This comes as Ucas cautions that the cohort of Year 13 students responded to a deliberate national effort to deflate unpredictable grade inflation seen during...