A-level pupils advised to have a ‘plan B’ after getting results
TEENAGERS will not be “defined” by the A-level grades they receive this week and could find that missing their first-choice university is the making of them, the schools minister has said.
Stressing the need for youngsters to have a “plan B”, Will Quince said he had to go through clearing when he did not get the grades he needed.
Mr Quince said: “If I’d gone to my first choice university… I wouldn’t have met my wife, because I met my wife at the university I went to via clearing… I may not have got into politics, I may not have ended up as the schools minister.”
It comes amid fears that a drop in top grades and competition for places could see more students miss out on their preferred choices than previously after receiving their A-level and vocational qualifications on Thursday.
For the first time since 2019, results will be awarded on the basis of exams, rather than the “teacher-assessed grades” which were given during the pandemic. Results are likely to fall sharply compared to 2021 because of a government decision to reverse the grade inflation of the last two years and return to pre-pandemic standards by 2023. This year, boundaries will set grades at about halfway between those of 2021 and 2019. One academic has estimated that the number of top grades
could fall by up to 80,000. At the same time, universities have said a rise in the 18-year-old population and bumper admissions during Covid mean they will be less able to give out places if students narrowly miss offers.
Mr Quince told The Sunday Telegraph it was critical that the Government took action to unwind grade inflation. “It is important that qualifications maintain their value to employers and to universities, that’s also the fairest thing for young people,” he said.
He added that students must “have a plan B and if you can also a plan C”.