A-levels: Grades in Wales drop for second year running

Top grades at A-level in Wales have fallen for a second year running, but results are still higher than before the pandemic.

The proportion of A and A* grades this year is 34% compared to 40.9% in 2022.

Exams watchdog Qualifications Wales said many grade boundaries were set lower to recognise the impact of disruption caused by Covid.

Education minister Jeremy Miles said extra support helped make this year's exams "fair".

Results for AS, Level 3 vocational and technical qualifications including BTec were also published.

The overall pass rate at A-level was 97.5% with 13.5% of grades the top A*.

Students who have missed out on their expected grades - or who have done better than predicted - are being encouraged to apply to alternative university choices through clearing.

Alys Watkins, 18, from Merthyr Tydfil achieved five A*s in biology, maths, chemistry, drama and Welsh Bac studying at Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun, Aberdare.

She is heading to Cardiff University to study medicine.

"It's been one tough year," she said, explaining how she had been rejected from multiple universities before being accepted to Cardiff.

"I needed three As to get in which I thought was tough," she said. "To have five A*s was such a shock this morning.

"I am so happy, it just doesn't feel real.... I can't stop shaking. It's a dream come true."

Despite the festival decorations, the lack of anything concrete to hand to the students has certainly had an impact on the atmosphere here. It's more pensive waiting for phone screens to reload, rather than jumping with joy.

Despite that, there's a lot to celebrate here in Coleg Gwent. Lucy Parfitt from Tredegar is 20 and got two As and a B, better than she expected. That means that she can go to Cardiff University to study sociology and education.

But her boyfriend Ben Shieber from Ebbw Vale, 18, is "really chuffed" with his B in criminology and a C in Welsh. He's going to work for another year before trying for a degree-apprenticeship with the police.

There were fewer post-Covid measures in place to support students this year, but some advance exam information was given to students ahead of time and grading remained more generous.

This is different to the approach in England, where grading returned to how it was carried out pre-2020.

Grades in 2020 and 2021 were awarded based on teacher assessments due to the pandemic.

The 2023 results show:

As students across Wales logged in online to get their results, some were reportedly struggling as at least one college results system appeared to be unable to cope with the demand.

Laura Lewis, 18, from Brynmawr did health and social care BTec at Coleg Gwent Ebbw Vale.

She received an email from Ucas congratulating her on getting her place in mental health nursing at the University of South Wales, but was unable to see her specific grades on her college website.

Her friend Shakira Primus, 18, from Rassau near Ebbw Vale, spent more than two hours trying to log in to the system before finding out she had been awarded an A, B, and C grades.

"I needed three B's for uni," she said. "But I'm so proud of myself and hopefully that'll get me into to do mental health nursing in university.

"After the waiting that we had it was a bit more nerve-wracking, but we're all good now."

Qualifications Wales said the results in Wales were broadly midway between 2019 and 2022 results.

"This year, we have taken the next step on our journey back to pre-pandemic assessment arrangements, with some support in place for learners as we transition back to the usual processes", chief executive of Qualifications Wales Philip Blaker said.

First Minister Mark Drakeford offered his congratulations to this year's graduates in a Tweet.

In 2019, 27% of learners got top A* and A grades at A-level which increased to 48.3% in 2021 when exams were cancelled and grades were based on teacher assessments.

Results were slightly lower last year, and are down again this year.

The current aim is to return to pre-pandemic processes in 2024.

Education minister Jeremy Miles said it had been "a challenging time".

"Our aim in providing extra support this year was to make sure the exams were fair, despite the difficulties you've faced", he said in comments directed at students.

"For anyone who didn't quite get the results you wanted, or you're unsure of your next steps, don't be too disappointed and don't be too hard on yourself.

There are lots of options open to you, including university clearing, apprenticeships, maybe starting your own business", he added.

Results for 2023 also show:

Qualifications Wales announced last year that measures to support young people doing exams in summer 2023 would continue, including advance information of topics to focus revision and more generous grading.

This is different to the approach in England where the aim is to return to pre-pandemic arrangements this year.

Official data shows there were 33,140 A-level entries for summer 2023 - 8.7% fewer than last year.

Maths and biology are still the most popular subjects, with computer science receiving the largest proportional increase in entries.

Welsh second language saw the largest decrease.

By the end of June there were 21,320 applications from Wales for places at UK universities, with over a third of 18-year-olds having applied for a university place.

The exams system in Wales was supposed to get back to 'normal' this year, but it was decided that it would mean too big a drop from results in 2022.

Top grades are down again but the impact of generous grade boundaries and some extra support before exams can be seen in results that are still higher than in 2019.

The fact that AS in Wales, taken at the end of Year 12, counts 40% toward the final A-level was another reason the Welsh exams regulator believed it should be a slower "journey" arrangements before the pandemic.

They argue there is no evidence that universities or employers are worried about this different approach compared to England.

But the current plan is to drop the extra measures next year and get back to the pre-Covid system.

Ethan Tucker, 21, from Aberdare, delayed going to university because he was the main carer to his grandparents.

He is now set to study game art at the University of South Wales after achieving a merit in his creative media diploma at Coleg y Cymoedd.

"I never believed I was good enough and also worried about how I could possibly continue to support my grandparents," he said.

A college award means he will get financial help to continue care for his grandparents while he continues his studies.

If applicants do not get their grades or have changed their mind about going to university or what course they want to do, they may choose to go through the university clearing process.

The university admissions service Ucas has said places on the most sought-after courses at top universities could be even more competitive this year, because of a growing number of 18-year-olds in the UK population.

Catrin Owen from Careers Wales said her message to students was "don't panic" as there are a variety of alternative avenues available.

"If university is not the course you've decided to go on yourself, there are other options," said Ms Owen.

"Just to name a few, there's apprenticeships, you could go straight into employment, you could potentially go into self-employment if you wanted to.

"To explore all the avenues, we recommend speaking to an advisor like myself and we can just discuss those things and put a plan in place for you."

Additional reporting by Steve Duffy, Sian Elin Dafydd, Aled Scourfield, Eleri Griffiths & Ben Price