Hundreds of thousands of students across the UK are preparing for a nerve-racking morning as A-level results day arrives, with results available from schools and colleges from 8am and several different ways to find out your grades.
Students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are set to receive their A-level results today, Thursday, August 13, in what is traditionally one of the most anxious mornings of the school calendar. The date is set by the Joint Council for Qualifications and applies uniformly across every exam board, including AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR, WJEC and CCEA. Alongside A-levels, the same day also covers AS Levels, the Extended Project, free-standing maths qualifications, and Level 3 applied and vocational technical qualifications.
When results become available
Exams officers are able to view results on their internal systems from 12.01am, but students cannot be given their results slips before 8am. It is worth noting that 8am is simply the earliest permitted time for results to be released, rather than a guaranteed release time, meaning the exact moment students receive their grades will depend on their individual school or college’s own arrangements.
One exception applies to OCR’s Cambridge Technicals at Level 2 and Level 3, which can be issued slightly earlier, from Monday, August 10, although schools and colleges have the discretion to hold these back until the main results day if they prefer.
How to collect your results
Students have several options for finding out their grades, depending on what their school or college has arranged.
In person: Students can attend their school or college in person with photo ID to collect a printed results slip. Anyone unable to attend themselves can nominate a proxy to collect results on their behalf, provided they bring a signed letter naming the proxy along with that person’s own ID.
Online: Many institutions allow students to log into an online portal to view their grades digitally. Results are also automatically sent to UCAS and to any universities or colleges a student has applied to, meaning students can check the UCAS Hub to see whether their university place has been confirmed. It’s worth noting, however, that the UCAS Hub will not display raw grades themselves.
Email or post: Some schools send results by email, so students are advised to check their inbox as well as their spam or junk folder. A smaller number of institutions will post physical copies of results, though this typically needs to be arranged with the school in advance.
Because arrangements vary between institutions, with some issuing printed slips in person and others relying entirely on online portals or email, students are advised to check their specific school or college’s policy ahead of results day.
Can you challenge a grade?
Students who wish to challenge their results cannot request a review directly; the request must be submitted by the school or college on the student’s behalf, meaning anyone considering a challenge will need to speak to their exams officer. If a school or college declines to request a review, students are entitled to use that institution’s internal appeals procedure to challenge the refusal.
It is important to understand that a review can result in a grade being lowered as well as raised, which is why students must give written consent before a review is requested, with that consent kept on file by the school. A fee may also apply if the review does not result in a grade change, so students are encouraged to check the cost in advance.
The timing of a review request matters significantly for anyone whose university or further education place depends on the outcome. The cut-off for a priority review, intended for cases affecting university places, is August 20, while the standard deadline for all other reviews is September 24.
Once an exam board issues the outcome of a review, students have 30 days from that date to lodge a further appeal if they remain unhappy with the result. The appeals process itself has two stages: if a student disputes the initial outcome, they have a further 14 days to request a formal hearing. Students who have requested a review that could affect their grade are strongly advised to inform their chosen university immediately, since exam boards do not notify UCAS or universities that a review is underway, only reporting the outcome if a grade changes as a result. Crucially, universities are under no obligation to hold a place open while a review is being carried out.
