When is A-level results day 2024 and what is Ucas clearing?
Exam season has finished for A-level students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Here is your full guide to this year's exams.
When is A-level results day 2024?
AS and A-level results will be released on Thursday, 15 August.
You can normally pick up your results in person anytime from 08:00 or you may receive an email, but check with your school or college, as arrangements can vary.
What are the 2024 A-level exam grade boundaries?
Each exam is graded on a scale from A* to E.
Grade boundaries show the minimum number of marks you need for each grade.
They are decided by examiners and published on results day.
Qualification Wales, which oversees Welsh exams, has said there is still a risk that performance in some subjects has not fully recovered since the pandemic.
So, it will use statistics to help set the grade boundaries, to prevent marks dropping below 2019 levels.
In England and Northern Ireland, the way boundaries are decided has returned to normal.
What is Ucas university clearing?
Ucas's clearing process matches students with university and college courses that still have spaces, across the UK.
Students can use it if they:
fail to achieve the grades for their conditional offer
fail to receive any offers they want to accept
decide after 30 June to apply for university
achieve better grades than expected and want to change universities.
Clearing opens on 5 July and closes on 21 October.
Universities make an offer to join a course based on qualifications and grades or the Ucas tariff points system.
Each A-level grade is worth a certain number of Ucas points. For example, an A* is worth 56 points and a D is worth 24 points.
Many students decide not to go to university and start an apprenticeship or go straight into work.
Others take a gap year so they have more time to decide what to do next.
How can I appeal against A-level results?
If you don't think your grade is right, you should talk to your school or college.
It will contact the exam board on your behalf and ask for your marks to be reviewed.
If you still think you have been unfairly graded after a review, you can ask your school or college to appeal.
The exam board will consider whether a correction is needed.
If you are still not satisfied, you can request a review from the exams regulator, Ofqual.
What if I don't get the A-level grades I need?
The charity YoungMinds points out that exam results are not the only measure of success - and if things do not turn out how you had hoped, there are lots of ways to get where you want to.
If you only just miss out on the grades you need to get on to a university or college course, the admissions office might accept you anyway, or offer you a place on a different course.
It may also be possible to resit some or all of your exams. Talk to your school or college if you want to explore this route. Resits will take place in May or June 2025.
When are exams in Scotland?
Scotland has a different qualification system. Students take Highers, which are similar to A-levels.
Results day in Scotland is Tuesday, 6 August.
