21st August 2016 1:00
By Blue Tutors
On August 18th, A-level results were released and hundreds of thousands of students celebrated or commiserated the news. While individuals will be more concerned about their personal results and how that will affect their life at this critical turning point, the national statistics also have some interesting trends. While maths, English and biology remained the most popular A-level subjects again this year, there was a further drop in the take-up of foreign languages and physics. For the fifth year in a row the number of top grades has fallen. Although, with the pass rate remaining the same, and over one in four papers given a top grade (A-A*), the 0.1% decrease in A*s awarded is a positive thing according to those who feel that grade inflation has devalued the qualification.
Despite the new examination system, removing modular assessment and with AS levels no longer counting towards final A level marks, results have stayed fairly static at the national level. This is no coincidence, as the grading is done such that the system stays relatively stable and therefore comparable year upon year. While this is achieved at the national level, there is increasing disparity between England and Wales, with the later getting 4% less A*-B grades. The other significant change is that the high ranking state schools were found to outperform fee-paying schools this year. Even more significant is the finding that for GCSE results, the average number of points per student was higher in the best 500 state schools and 500 top private schools according to the Department of Education data.
Despite a small ‘slip’ in top marks, a record number of university places have been offered and confirmed this year after the government created 30,000 more university places. The admissions system has also been changed such that universities can accept an unlimited number of students with one A and two B grade, which has further increased the number of offers and the likelihood of achieving them. Although the final figures have not yet been published, the number of young people taking up University places is already up 3% on the same time this year, with 424,000 already allocated. There has also been a significant increase in the number of EU applicants taking up places in UK Universities, thought to be as a result of fears about future possibilities following the Brexit vote.
For those who didn’t make their offers, this year’s clearing process has started, finding places for tens of thousands of students. Clearing matches unfilled university places with those who have failed to obtain the required grades for the most competitive courses they applied for. This year’s clearing is set to be the busiest ever, according to UCAS, with an unprecedented number of places being offered by Russel Group Universities, including Warwick, Nottingham, Birmingham and Leeds. Oxbridge, Imperial and UCL continue not to participate but the many other institutions are competing for students to fill spaces, including advertisement campaigns starting long before A-level results even came out. The high volume of spaces is attributed to the change in admissions process which has “created so much instability and uncertainty that even our most selective universities are vulnerable to under-recruitment” according to the University and College Union president.