Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent

The gap between the highest and lowest-performing regions in England has grown again, reaching a record high.

In London, 32.7% of A-level grades were marked at A* or A.

In the North East and the East Midlands it's 23.1%.

That’s a 9.6 percentage point gap – up from 9.2 last year, when the North East alone was the lowest-performing region.

It's the largest gap since the A* grade was introduced in 2010.

Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent

The proportion of A-level grades marked A* or A have risen across the board.

This year the proportion of A-levels marked at A* and A was:

• 28.3% in England, up from 28.2% in 2025
• 29.6% in Wales, up from 29.5%
• 30.7% in Northern Ireland, up from 30.3%

Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent

Top A-level results across the whole of England, Wales and Northern Ireland have risen for a third year running – with 28.5% of all grades marked at A* or A.

That’s up from 28.3% last year.

Today’s results are still much lower than they were in 2020 and 2021, when exams were cancelled and results were based on teachers’ assessments.

After that, there was a concerted effort to bring them back down. Grading in England returned to pre-pandemic standards in 2023 – prompting a big fall in top grades – while Wales and Northern Ireland followed suit in 2024.

The proportion of top grades across all three nations has been slightly creeping up since that drop in 2023.

And it’s still higher than it was before the pandemic, when 25.4% of all grades were marked A* or A.

Katie Williams
Live reporter

Image source, Jade Bowler

Jade Bowler opened her A-level results on camera and shared them with thousands on her YouTube channel in 2018, in a video which has amassed more than 700,000 views.

She describes feeling "so much pressure" to get three A*s, fuelled by high hopes from her school and the added pressure of a local newspaper on site.

She wasn't disappointed. But her advice to her teenage self looking back is that your grades "are not a full picture of your potential".

Swapping an offer from Bristol for a gap year was the "best decision of my life," Jade tells me.

Stranded on a train in a country where you don't speak the language? "It’s at that moment you learn how to problem solve," she explains.

The decision inspired her to later study abroad, with Jade taking up a place at Minerva - an unconventional university with no campus.

While studying, she lived in six countries including Taiwan, Argentina and South Korea.

Image source, Jade Bowler

Emily Doughty
Education reporter, reporting from Carmel College in St Helens

Sam, a student at Carmel College, says he is “thrilled” to have achieved the results he needed to study aerospace engineering at Sheffield University.

He had been imagining “the worst case scenario” after facing the particularly hard maths paper one, which thousands of people signed a petition over earlier in the summer.

While the uncertainty was adding to his nerves this morning, he has achieved an A* in maths.

His post-exam celebration will be in September when he will go to the Italian Grand Prix, and he is dreaming of working on the pit wall for McLaren after completing his degree.

Whether you're happy with your exam results or you're unsure of what to do next, we want to hear from you.

We've got a panel of experts on hand to answer all your questions throughout the day.

You can get in touch and share your experiences in the following ways:

• Email: yourvoice@bbc.co.uk, external

• WhatsApp: +44 7756 165803 , external

• Upload your pictures and video

Please read ourterms & conditions andprivacy policy

In some cases a selection of your comments and questions will be published, displaying your name and location as you provide it unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published.

So you've found out your results, but they're not what you were hoping for. Don't worry - you still have plenty of options.

• Check Ucas: If you only just miss out on the grades you need, the admissions office might accept you anyway. They may also offer you a place on a different course
• Clearing: If you've missed out on your firm or insurance university choices, you can apply through clearing, external - which is where universities and colleges list unfilled course places. There will also be a clearing portal for apprenticeships opening later this year
• Get your paper checked: If you missed out on your grade by just a few marks, you might want to consider getting the paper remarked
• Take a year out: You might decide to retake a subject, or reapply for the same course next year in the hope that it's less subscribed. For both these options, a year out can be productive and gives you the chance to work or travel too
• Speak to your school: It's always good to check in with your teachers too, they'll have lots of advice about what steps to take

Bethan Lewis
BBC Wales Family & Education Correspondent

Image source, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service

Over the summer, 18-year-old Bobi Jones hasn’t had time to worry about his results. “I've got plenty on my plate, as it is,” the on-call firefighter says.

He became one of the youngest crew members for the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service when he joined up last autumn while studying A-levels in business and sport as well as the Welsh Baccalaureate qualification.

With the agreement of his school, Ysgol Bro Teifi in Llandysul, Ceredigion, he’s had to hastily pack up books and leave class when his bleeper’s gone off with an emergency call.

Teachers were “happy enough” as long as he caught up later, he says.

“It’s been a great experience,” says Bobi who’s been busy responding to wildfires over recent weeks.

Next, he’ll be doing an apprenticeship with a local electrician alongside his duties with the fire service.

Students across the country are ripping open envelopes to get their long-awaited exam results this morning.

We're seeing big smiles and scenes of joy from these students in South Yorkshire and Devon.

Ucas chief executive Jo Saxton says there will be a record number of new engineers this year.

Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme, she says there are 35,000 students going on to study engineering at university, which is up 14% compared to last year.

Saxton says around 27,000 courses are available through clearing and there is a "huge amount of choice" including subjects such as maths, music and engineering.

Saxton tells students they can "absolutely still go to university in the autumn", even if they did not quite get the grades they were hoping for.

Emily Doughty
Education reporter, reporting from Carmel College in St Helens

Some students here at Carmel College in St Helens are already celebrating, even though they haven't opened their results yet.

That's because some, like Niamh, have already seen on Ucas that they've got their place at university secured.

Niamh says she is happy after finding out she has got into Edge Hill University to study psychology - now she just has to open the envelope to find out her exact results.

Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent

We’ve just heard from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas), which says a record number of UK 18-year-olds have secured a place at their first choice of university.

Overall 228,990 18-year-olds have been accepted into their firm choice.

That's an increase from last year in terms of raw numbers.

But there's been a rise in the number of 18-year-olds in the UK, and the actual percentage of 18-year-old offer-holders who got into their first choice has fallen - from 82% to 79%.

Dr Jo Saxton, chief executive of Ucas, just told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that there were around 27,000 courses available in clearing.

"For those applicants who might be tearing open their results and not quite be getting what they hoped for, they can absolutely still go to university in the autumn if that’s what they would like to do," she says.

"There is lots and lots of choice."

She stressed that clearing is not just for people who didn't get the grades they needed to take up an offer - it is also used by applicants who want to "trade up" or change their mind and live closer to home, for example.

A moment ago, we reported that a quarter of a million students in the UK will be finding out shortly they have got an undergraduate place at university or college this year.

We can bring you more details on the figures:

• In total, 228,990 UK 18-year-olds have been accepted at their first (UCAS ‘firm’) choice of university or college - an increase of 1% on last year - while 31,770 have been placed at their insurance choice today

That figure translates to 79% of 18-year-olds from England, Wales and Northern Ireland who had received an offer and got their decision this morning have secured their 'firm' choice. While an additional 13% have got their insurance choice.

The clock has struck 8am and students across the country are opening their exam results.

The Ucas hub is expected to update shortly at around 08:15 and will confirm if pupils have made their offer for university.

Stick with us as we bring you more details on the national picture and speak to students about their next steps.

Ucas chief executive Jo Saxton has told the BBC a quarter of a million UK school and college leavers are "getting their place at university today" - calling it a "really good picture".

Image source, Getty Images

The government will take action to prevent university courses which are not a good investment from expanding, according to skills minister Jacqui Smith.

Smith tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme the government will make sure future increases to tuition fees are linked to the quality of what is provided by universities.

"For most people going to university is a very good and important investment in their future earning potential and in their life," she says.

The results students are receiving today follow an "enormous amount of hard work", Smith says, adding that it's important young people have "the opportunities to take the sort of pathways that will build on their strengths".

She says the government will improve the way students learn from age 14 so that if pupils want to focus on more practical skills they have the opportunity to do so.

Our panel of experts will be on hand throughout the day to answer your questions on anything you're unsure of.

You can get in touch in the following ways:

• Email: yourvoice@bbc.co.uk, external

• WhatsApp: +44 7756 165803 , external

• Upload your pictures and video

Please read ourterms & conditions andprivacy policy

In some cases a selection of your comments and questions will be published, displaying your name and location as you provide it unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published.

Image source, Getty

In less than an hour's time, students across the country will be ripping open envelopes and refreshing their emails to get those long-awaited A-level, T-level, Btec and Level 3 results.

Here's a few things to remember while you wait:

• Keep calm: You can't change the contents of that envelope now. A missed grade isn't the end of the world - you have plenty of options

• Know who to speak to: Keep contact details close to hand for your school or college, as well as universities and the clearing helpline

• University isn't the only route: Remember: the world is your oyster. An apprenticeship, job, gap year, travel or volunteering opportunity might sound like a better next step for you

• Make sure you have login details ready: If you are hoping to go to university Ucas should start updating at around 08:00 BST, letting you know if you've made your offer. Ahead of time make sure you know your Ucas sign-in details and personal ID
• Give yourself time and space: Getting your results can be very stressful. It's fine to take a step back and have a break from social media and WhatsApp

Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent

This morning another record number of students are expected to find out they have secured a place at their first choice of university.

The cost of going to university has been in the spotlight this year, with mounting pressure on the government to reform student loan repayments, and there has been a renewed focus on technical education under Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

The chief executive of Universities UK, which represents more than 140 vice-chancellors, has urged students to not "let politicians make your decision for you".

Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, says she's concerned that "people talking [university] down" could "put off" potential students from the least-advantaged backgrounds.

She urged students to "make the right decision for you", adding: "Don't let politicians make your decision for you."

Here's a quick guide to the different qualifications people are receiving today:

• A-levels: Traditional academic route where you study classroom-based subjects like English, Maths, History or the sciences. You typically take three A-levels and there's over 40 subjects to choose from
• BTecs: Practical qualification in a vocational subject like construction or health and social care with exams, coursework and sometimes placements - gradually being phased out and replaced with other vocational routes
• T-levels: Technical qualification focused on understanding one industry, such as accounting or marketing - a mix of classroom study and hands-on experience

• Apprenticeship: Paid work where you learn on the job while also working towards a qualification