Students urged not to panic but seek advice if they miss first-choice courses

Students who miss out on their first choices for university when A-level results are published this week have been urged not to panic and instead turn to teachers for advice and support.

Tens of thousands of pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due to find out on Thursday how they did in the first exams held since the coronavirus pandemic.

It is expected grades will go down overall compared with last year, when students were assessed by teachers, but should still be higher than in 2019.

This year’s race for university places is expected to be one of the most competitive yet, with almost 40% of students thought likely to make use of the clearing system to find a place on a course.

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) has acknowledged that offer-making has been “more conservative” this year, with the chief executive Clare Marchant warning results day will not be a “pain-free” experience for students.

On Sunday, Ofqual – the exams regulator in England – and Ucas sent a letter to students reassuring them that most will still secure their first choice of university.

Students who do not find a place on their first-choice course have been advised by a headteachers’ union to avoid panicking and instead seek advice.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said pupils should remember that their teachers are “very experienced in providing advice and support” around other options.

He said: “Universities made their offers with all these factors in mind and where students miss places on their first-choice courses, there will be many other options available.

“We would urge students in this situation not to panic and to talk to their school or college where their teachers are very experienced in providing advice and support.”

He said it was “important to bear in mind that this cohort has been more disrupted than any set of students since the second world war”, having spent recent years “under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic which has had a massively disruptive impact on their learning”.

Mr Barton said the decision for this year’s grades to reflect a midway point between 2021 and 2019 is one adaptation that has been made “to try to mitigate the learning disruption in as much as this is possible”.

But he warned that the impact on learning and results was “likely to be uneven depending on how different schools, colleges and communities have been affected”.

He said the increased competition for the most selective universities and courses was “because of a rise in the number of 18-year-olds and has nothing to do with adjustments in grading standards”.

He added: “Universities made their offers with all these factors in mind and where students miss places on their first-choice courses there will be many other options available.

“We would urge students in this situation not to panic and to talk to their school or college where their teachers are very experienced in providing advice and support.”

Students can use the clearing process to see what courses or universities might be available to them if they need a plan B.

Ucas has created a series of podcasts to help students prepare for exam results day and said it will have more than 250 people supporting students on its different channels on Thursday.

Students can visit www.ucas.com/contactus to find out more.

Pupils in Scotland received the results of their Higher examinations last week, with the pass rate down on last year but slightly above pre-pandemic levels from 2019.