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Don’t believe the hype….

| skwarepegrowndhole

This is the weekend between Level 3 (A-levels, T-levels, BTECs) and Level 2 (GCSE, BTECs) results, and for families who are waiting for both sets, you have my deepest sympathies!

Since Thursday morning, the media (social, online and print) has had stories about how this year’s results compare to previous years, and how many students are about to head off to university. The main headlines have been how the results are up this year, and the number of entries achieving A* or A is up for the second year, as are the top grades for T-level (Technical levels are a relatively new qualification) and other vocational level 3 quals (such as BTECs).

This all makes further education/sixth form education sound great, they’ve all done amazingly well, so congrats to them, and the Department for Education is amazing too as the top grades are up again.

It’s not that simple, and these stories about higher grades and getting university places can make the world seem a little darker if you or a teen you look after didn’t get higher grades, and hasn’t been able to find a place at university. I feel your pain right now. We went through this 10 years ago, and it was tough. The headlines don’t matter if your house can’t share the joy, and although alternatives may be found that actually carve out a better path, it might not feel like that right now. Things will all work out, the sun will shine again, but for now, take time to breathe, and sit with them in the shade until they’re ready to see the sunlight again.

To repeat myself, it’s not as simple as higher grades this year that are building on the higher grades from last year. It’s more complicated than that. In 2020 and 2021, A-level and GCSE grades were not generated by the exam boards:

2020 – teacher grades that then got fed into an algorithm that looked at the school, the area and previous results and came up with grades that were heavily criticised by schools and students.

2021 – centre assessed grades that were more rigorous and subject to scrutiny, and although still not perfect, were better than 2020.

In 2022, students went back to formal exams and assessments, but the marking took into account the previous 2 Covid years, and so results were higher as the marking was kinder.

In 2023, in England (this was not the case in the other nations) assessments went back to pre-Covid marking, and in 2023, A-level grades dropped from the previous 2 Covid years. Purely anecdotal, but my son’s cohort all got at least one grade lower than predicted in each subject.

So, in 2024 in England, the results were higher, and were back to pre-Covid levels in England, which isn’t really a surprise as the GCSE and A-level results were not taken in lockdown years, and this year the results are slightly higher again – but not as high as the press would maybe have you believe from their headlines. In 2023 26.5% of entries achieved A or A*, and in 2025 it was 28.2%. So a rise of less than 2% over 2 years. In Wales the top grades have dropped by 0.4%, and in Northern Ireland, they have increased by 0.1%. Not exactly anything for the press to shout about – but well done to all of those who got these grades, you have plenty to shout about.

Information about the inequality gap has also been a little vague in the press. This year more boys than girls achieved the higher grades (9.8% compared to 9.1%), but boys were also more likely to achieve lower grades (21.2% compared to 18.5% of girls), and I only heard one news article mentioning this.

More worrying for me, are the regional and school gaps. More young people in London, the East and the South Easter got the higher grades compared to the rest of the country, with the North East getting the smallest percentage of higher grades. The school you go to can also impact the grades you have, with students from independent or selective schools more likely to get the higher grades. That doesn’t mean that young people in comprehensives in Sunderland won’t get fantastic grades, it just means that you are more likely to get higher grades if you attend an independent school in London or the South East.

The media pick and choose which bits of information they post, and the same will happen on next Thursday as GCSE results are published. I predict similar regional variations, and similar sensationalising headlines.

At the end of the day, the young people getting their results this August are still part of the Covid generation. Their first years at secondary school were interrupted by lockdown and online learning. They missed out on face to face interactions, and so whatever their results may be, they are all amazing!

All grade information here was taken from https://ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2025/08/a-level-t-level-and-other-level-3-results-2025-the-main-trends-in-grades-and-entries/

post 18 support

| skwarepegrowndhole

This is a positive post – but I am aware that not everyone will have had our experience of post 18 support.

First of all, I need to clarify that our youngest has not had an EHCP. I did query this when he got his ASD diagnosis, but we decided not to pursue this for various reasons, although I was a little worried that our decision may become something we regret later.

I was warned when our youngest was in Year 13 and we were pushing for more support in exams that it would be harder for him to get support at university, and that he already had a lot of exam support. The amount of support, to be honest, is irrelevant. Our youngest is very clever and academically able, so the support is there to allow him to fulfil his potential.

The ‘extra’ that we were asking for was a room on his own. During GCSEs and centre assessed grades (CAG), he was in a room with other year 11s who had learning support. He was distracted by them writing, typing, sighing, having rest breaks, finishing before him, scribbling on the paper and tapping on the desk, to name a few. I had to email the then SENCo to ask for the distractions to be taken into account when the papers were marked. I have no idea if this happened, but A-levels were marked by the exam boards, and no dispensation was offered last year. They were back to pre-covid examinations, standards and marking.

When I found out that another learner had been offered a room on their own for their A-levels, I got a little stroppy. I emailed the SENCo several times, to no avail, and then ended up emailing the form tutor, who was the one who told me about universities. To be frank, university access arrangements meant nothing if we didn’t get the right support for these exams because if he didn’t get the grades, he wouldn’t be going anyway.

More emails were sent, now to the deputy head, and finally a reply from the SENCo, a phone call, and then the room on his own for most exams was agreed. Not quite what I had asked for. Fast forward to the penultimate exam, and the room on his own was disturbed by teens running past the room and disturbing him. Another phone call or two, lots of angry emails, and the final exam went ok.

Even before results day, his first choice of university got in touch and invited him to a SEND day in July. We went (parents invited too), and it was a fabulous, inclusive day. Results day came, and he got the grades he needed.

As I wrote last time (link here), we’ve been through a rollercoaster of emotions since September, but the first exam has been and gone – and it was so much smoother than school. He was told by the disability services that his reader would be in touch before the exam, and there would be time to meet up in person or online before the day if needed, but to email and just go through his needs. He didn’t want to meet up, but emailed what he wanted in the exam. He arrived in time, had the room on his own, extra time, coloured paper and a reader/prompt who did exactly as he asked.

We (and I say we as it’s him with us supporting all the way) are only at the end of the first semester, but the support has been outstanding. Lecturers have taken the time to answer questions and make adjustments where possible, getting the right exam support was so much easier than school, and the specialist ASD mentor and study skills mentor have both been amazing.

So far, post 18 support has been everything he wanted, and has been much easier to get than I was expecting – long may it continue!