Top A-level grades edge upwards

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-40952125

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The proportion of top A-level grades has risen this year, as teenagers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland find out their results.

A* and A grades were awarded to 26.3% of entries - up by 0.5 percentage points compared with last year.

In the 13 subjects changed to depend solely on final exams, there was a slight decrease - but boys did better.

The number of university places allocated has fallen - with tens of thousands of places still available.

The Ucas university admissions body says that 416,000 places have so far been confirmed - down 2% on last year.

'Buyer's market'

This is expected to mean a "buyer's market", with more options available to those looking for university places.

The fall in university entry follows a reduction in applications and a demographic dip in the number of 18-year-olds.

The number of students from European Union countries has fallen by 3% compared with last year.

Many universities, including in the prestigious Russell Group, will still have places on offer through the clearing system, which matches people looking for places with vacancies on courses.

Changes to the qualifications system in England mean 13 A-level subjects this year have been decided solely by final exams, with no link to coursework or AS-levels.

The national results have been kept similar to last year, with over a quarter of entries receiving top grades.

But in those new-style A-level subjects, including history, English, psychology, physics, chemistry and biology, there were 0.7% fewer A* and A grades.

Also, the gender gap has narrowed in these new-style A-levels, with boys' results falling less than for girls.

Head teachers' leader Geoff Barton said the end of the link between A-levels and AS-levels would mean the "death knell" of AS-levels, with schools increasingly likely to abandon the exam.

AS-level entries have fallen by more than 40% this year, and Mr Barton, leader of the ASCL head teachers' union, said he regretted this "narrowing" of options.

But the exam changes, and the move to final exams rather than modules, were defended by John Blake, head of education at the Policy Exchange think tank.

"The changes to A-levels were designed to end a culture of endlessly resitting examinations, which was as painful and time-consuming for teachers as it was for students," he said.

"It led to less teaching time and made it harder to get a proper grasp of the subject.

"We should all be pleased that it is over."

But there have been concerns from pupils who have been the first to take these revised exams.

A survey of A-level students from the Student Room website found worries about a lack of textbooks and practice papers for the new style of exams.

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