Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
This summer's results show 26.6% of A-level entries achieved the top two grades - down from 27% last year.
About 335,000 students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are receiving their results - with many finding out whether they have made the grade for university.
Students in England will be the first intake to face fees of up to £9,000.
Although girls have continued to outperform boys for getting A grades - this year saw boys narrowly ahead of girls at achieving the highest A* grades - 8% compared with 7.9%.
The figures published by the Joint Council for Qualifications also show that the overall pass rate has risen again for the 30th successive year.
The results also revealed a continuing fall in the numbers of pupils taking modern languages - with French, Spanish and German in decline.
Some students are deciding between university or work
"There is a crisis here in modern foreign languages," said Andrew Hall, chief executive of exam board AQA.
Many students will also be learning whether or not they have achieved the results necessary for a university place.
Admissions service Ucas says that 357,915 students have now been accepted for university courses this year, down 7% on last year.
The figures published on Thursday also show that about 79,000 UK applicants are still awaiting decisions, and that more than 10,000 people have already applied for places through clearing.
Despite this year's dip in applications, Universities Minister David Willetts said that the long-term expansion in university numbers was going to continue.
"There is a long-term trend for more and more people to aspire to go to university and for more and more employers to look to employ people with higher education qualifications and I personally don't think, taking the long view, that trend has suddenly stopped," said Mr Willetts.
As well as rising tuition fees, this year also sees changes aimed at increasing competition for students between England's universities.
Universities can take an unlimited number of students with top grades (AAB or higher) - although not all universities plan to use this flexibility.
Where universities are offering extra places for students with AAB grades, these might be limited to students who have already applied to these universities.
Head teachers' leader Brian Lightman has linked the lower level of acceptances this year to this change - suggesting that it might be pupils who have just missed out on gaining these AAB grades.
The slight fall in A-level top grades will add to the debate about so-called "grade inflation".
Since 2010, England's exams watchdog Ofqual has been telling exam boards they have to account fully for any upward movement in grades - to show there was real improvement in performance.
Teachers' leaders, exam bodies and others maintain that grades have improved over the years because students are better taught and are working harder, but critics dispute that.
Results out on Thursday morning are for A and AS-level exams taken by pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Pupils in Scotland got the results of their Highers and Standard Grades earlier this month and there was a record pass rate for Highers.
While many teenagers will head out to work or other training, more than half of UK A-level students will opt to go on to university.
The rise in tuition fees for many has been followed by a fall in university applications - particularly for England - but competition for places is still expected to be fierce.
Mr Willetts said he hoped the changes had not deterred students.
Students applying to England's universities will be liable for fees up to a maximum of £9,000 a year.
The Welsh Government will meet the extra cost for its students wherever they study in the UK and students from Scotland will continue to pay no fees at Scottish universities.
Students in Northern Ireland who stay there to study will not face an increase in fees.
Universities in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are all charging higher fees to students from other parts of the UK.
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
No comments:
Post a Comment