Education UCAS open letter: Students urged to 'consider all options' ahead of A Level results day By Amber Allott Published 5th Aug 2024, 12:56 BST Comment Watch more of our videos on Shots! and live on Freeview channel 276 Visit Shots! now Officials want students to have the ‘best possible experience of transitioning to university’ this year 🎓 The heads of UCAS and Ofqual have written an open letter to A Level students, with results day just around the corner. They have confirmed that the return to pre-pandemic marking and grading arrangements will continue this year. Most applicants will get into their first university choice, they say.
If you don’t - or if you change your mind - there are plenty of options available, with around 30,000 courses in Clearing this year. Top education officials are urging A Level students to consider all of their options this year, as they strive to make sure the path to tertiary education is as easy and flexible as possible for them. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more.
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For secondary school pupils who sat their GCSEs and A Levels in May and June, the wait to find out how they did is almost over. A Level results day will be on Thursday, 15 August this year, while GCSE results day will be one week later on Thursday, 22 August. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad On these days, students will be able to go along and pick up their results envelopes from their schools, and for A Level candidates with tertiary study aspirations, they will soon find out whether they got the grades they needed for their university or institute of choice.
Sir Ian Bauckham, Ofqual’s chief regulator, and Dr Jo Saxton, the chief executive of UCAS, have even written an open letter to students about to receive these all-important A Level exam results. The pair have confirmed that the normal, “tried and tested” arrangements for grading will continue for GCSEs, AS, and A levels in 2024, since the return to pre-pandemic grading last year . This means that a student who would have achieved a certain grade last year should be just as likely to achieve that grade this summer.
They are also urging young people to be sure to consider all of their options this year. But what else do the government think young people should know before results day? Here’s what you need to know: Education officials say the Clearing process offers plenty of flexibility this year, including for students who have changed their mind (File photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) How should students prepare for results day? Students can put themselves “in the strongest position” by exploring all of their options and planning ahead of results day this year, Bauckham and Saxton write. They urge students to make the most of the UCAS website; exploring personalised options by logging into your account, watching to its Streetview YouTube series, or exploring different types of courses with Springpod’s Subject Spotlights in the UCAS Hub.
Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But online is not the only place to find answers to your questions, particularly if you’re nervous or feel you could use a little extra support. “Make the most of the support network around you - speak to your teachers, university admissions staff, or UCAS’s team of expert advisors who are readily available to answer any questions you may have.” On results day, they say UCAS will send out an email tailored to each individual student.
It will clearly outline their next steps, as well as other options they may want to consider. “UCAS advisors will also be standing by ready on the telephone, website and social media channels,” the pair added. “Whatever your results, this is an exciting time and we want to ensure you have the best possible experience of transitioning to university.
” What is the government’s advice to students who don’t get the grades they need? If you get the grades needed for your conditional university offer, “then you’re in – congratulations”. Bauckham and Saxton say that most people do get their first university choice, also known as their UCAS ‘firm choice’. But if your grades aren’t what you hoped, or even if you applied late or changed your mind about what you’d like to study, the officials say there are still “plenty of choices in Clearing”.
This is the process where universities offer up open spots in their courses to students who have not yet secured a place. Students who applied late or didn’t get the graded needed for their offer will be entered into Clearing automatically. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Last year, about one in five accepted applicants achieved their predicted grades.
But more than 80% of UK 18-year-olds applying to UCAS still secured a place at university or college, a record 39 thousand of them via the Clearing process. “Clearing offers choice and flexibility to all students, regardless of whether you receive predicted, better or lower grades,” the pair continued. “This year, there will be tens of thousands of choices on offer.
” The process of narrowing it down need not be daunting either, with UCAS now offering an online ‘Clearing Plus’ tool. This will create a personalised list of available courses that it thinks would be a good match for you once your grades are confirmed. From then, it’s on to contacting different universities or tertiary providers to secure your spot - and start planning your future.
We have written a series of explainers to help young people navigating results day. For more information about how A Levels are marked and what the different grades mean, check out this one . If you’d like to find out more about how to appeal your A Level grades, you can try this one .
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