A-level results: Chaos as Ucas clearing website crashes after top grades plunge by biggest drop on record

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Students at Ark Acton Academy in Acton, west London, receive their A-level results The Department for Education confirmed the drop of top A-level grades by nearly 10 percentage points from last year is the biggest ever. He said: “The proportion of students achieving the top A-level grades has fallen sharply this year, not as a result of underperformance, but because the grading system has been adjusted in the wake of the pandemic so that the distribution of grades in England is similar to 2019.” Student Hasena Mahmood reacts after receiving her A-Level results at City of London College He added: “Whatever the rationale, however, it will feel like a bruising experience for many students, as well as schools and colleges which will have seen a sharp dip in top grades compared to the past three years.” Amid exams regulator Ofqual’s warnings that this year’s A-level results in England would be lower than last year, it has also been suggested that school leavers are facing more competition for university places this year due to a growth in 18-year-olds in the population and international demand. Exams regulator Ofqual’s warned that this year’s A-level results in England would be lower than last year Further fuelling the fears of disappointment has been the potential for this cohort of students to have higher expectations, having not sat GCSE exams and instead been awarded teacher-assessed grades amid the pandemic, leading to record-high GCSE results in 2021. Pupils have been receiving their A-Level results and logging on to the Ucas website to find out the status of their university applications from 8am on Thursday A Ucas spokesperson said that, at the time results were released, “a small number of students may have been affected by the website running slow but this was quickly resolved”, adding: “All students were able to access their decisions on email and we can see that three-quarters of applicants have opened their emails.” In response to the organisation’s figures, Gillian Keegan told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “79% of those students receiving their results today got their first choice of university.