Pupils celebrate their A-level results with a night out as the class of 2024 are hailed as the brightest group of school leavers ever

Last night, Britain’s towns and cities welcomed festive A-level students after months of anxiously awaiting their grades.

The class of 2024 was yesterday hailed as the ‘smartest ever’ after thousands of students achieved the highest results in their A-level exams.

Last night, students partied into the early hours, congratulating each other – or expressing their condolences.

On A-level results day, hundreds of thousands of students were told their exam grades and whether they had secured a place at university.

In Nottingham, groups of teenagers would flock to the city’s bars and clubs as their school years drew to a close.

This comes after results were announced on Thursday that showed the number of A-level entrants receiving the highest grades was higher than before the pandemic.

Students were seen partying and congratulating each other or expressing their condolences until the early hours of the morning last night

In Nottingham, groups of teenagers would head to the city’s bars and clubs as their school years drew to a close

Students were seen partying outside clubs and bars in Nottingham until the early hours

In total, over a quarter (27.8 percent) of entries from the UK were awarded an A or A* grade, an increase of 0.6 percentage points compared to last year.

According to figures from the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), this is the highest percentage of entries scoring top marks outside the pandemic-affected years 2020-2022.

In 2019, the last year the summer exams were held before the pandemic, 25.4 percent of entries received an A or A* grade.

Hundreds of thousands of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their exam results, in a year when grading in all three countries was due to return to 2019 levels.

As A-level results were published, separate Ucas figures showed the number of applicants accepted onto UK courses has risen this year.

According to the Higher Education Admissions Service, 82 per cent of 18-year-old British applicants awaiting a decision on results day were given their first choice, up from 79 per cent last year and 74 per cent in 2019.

Nearly one in ten (9.3 percent) of entries from the UK this year received the top grade of A*, compared to 8.9 percent in 2023 and 7.7 percent in 2019.

The 2024 class is being hailed by some as the ‘smartest ever’ after results surpassed pre-pandemic highs

On A-Level results day, hundreds of thousands of students were told their exam grades and whether they had secured a place at university

Excluding the pandemic years 2020-2022, this is the highest percentage of A* grades since they were first awarded in 2010.

A total of 4,135 students in England alone scored three A* grades, according to separate figures from Ofqual. This is up from 3,820 last year and 2,785 in 2019.

This comes after Covid-19 led to a rise in top grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments rather than exams.

In England, exam regulator Ofqual expected A-level results this year to be “broadly similar” to last year, when figures had returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Ofqual’s chief regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, said: ‘There is no grade inflation this year. Standards have been maintained from 2023. Any change is largely due to the ability of the cohort.’

He told the PA news agency: ‘This year we have a situation where we have students who have achieved a fractionally higher standard of work and therefore achieved fractionally better results.’

In Wales and Northern Ireland, exam boards have indicated they want to return to pre-pandemic grading systems this summer, a year later than in England.

In England alone, almost 14,100 more A-level grades (A*-A) were awarded than last year, exam boards said.

However, the results also showed regional differences in outcomes and a widening gap in achievement between private and public schools, raising new concerns about a gap in education.

The latest figures from Ofqual, which cover England only, show that 49.4 per cent of A-level students at independent schools achieved an A or above this year, compared with 22.3 per cent at mainstream schools.

Across all regions, the percentage of entries achieving an A* or A grade this year was higher than in the pre-pandemic year of 2019. However, only London and South East England saw figures above 30 per cent. The next highest scoring region, East of England, lagged far behind at 27.5 per cent.

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Students receive their A-Level results at the City of London Academy Highgate Hill

Noah Harrison receives his A-level results at Solihull School in the West Midlands

(From left) Aisha Sidime, Daleen Sherkawi and Orissa Mistry at Solihull School

Kherri French (left) and Yasmin Hanachova (right) react together as they receive their A-level results at Norlington School and Sixth Form in Waltham Forest, east London

The capital had the highest percentage of participants with an A or higher grade, while the East Midlands had the lowest percentage.

The group of pupils receiving their results were in Year 9 when schools closed due to Covid-19. They were the first year group to sit GCSE exams after they were cancelled two years in a row.

Speaking on A-level results day, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: ‘This Government is committed to breaking down barriers to ensure all young people, wherever they come from, have the knowledge and skills to seize opportunities.’

The overall pass rate (the percentage of students who receive an A* to an E) has fallen to 97.2 percent this year. That is lower than last year (97.3 percent) and the year before the pandemic, 2019.

At A-level, boys have a bigger lead over girls in the top grade this year, with 9.5 percent of boys achieving an A*, compared to 9.1 percent of girls.

Boys have traditionally outperformed girls, scoring more A* grades than their female peers every year between 2012 and 2019. But girls overtook boys between 2020 and 2022, the years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Girls still outperformed boys at A* and A-level, but the gender gap narrowed again this year.

Education leaders warn that this group of young people face a range of challenges, with those from disadvantaged backgrounds being hit hardest.

A few days before the start of the school year last year, a number of schools were forced to offer distance learning when reinforced aerated concrete was found in buildings.

Carys Bonell and Ava Doherty celebrate at Harris Westminster Sixth Form in London

Katie Smallwood celebrates her A-level results at Solihull School

Not all students whose education was disrupted by the concrete crisis were awarded a one-off increase in exam grades, despite calls from affected schools and families.

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: ‘While the dark days of the pandemic are a thing of the past, its legacy continues to haunt us, as many of these students have experienced severe disruption to their education.

‘This particularly affected young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, whose families were also hit hard by the subsequent cost of living crisis.’

Jill Duffy, chair of the JCQ board of directors and chief executive of the OCR examination board, said: “With A-level grades similar to last year, Gen Z students and their teachers will experience much-needed continuity and stability following the disruptions caused by the pandemic.”

In England, 7,380 students received their T-level results in the third year the qualification was awarded, with 88.7 per cent achieving at least a pass.

This year, approximately 250,000 results were also issued to students who completed a Vocational or Technical Diploma (VTQ) at Level 3.

Scotland uses a different qualifications system and students received their results last Tuesday.