A-level results expected to fall to pre-pandemic levels

The number of top A-level and AS-level grades awarded are expected to fall when students get their results on Thursday.

More than 26,000 students in Northern Ireland will receive their A-level and AS results.

Results this year are expected to be similar to those in the years before the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2020 and 2021, schools calculated grades for their pupils after summer exams were canceled due to the pandemic. One of the effects of that was a significant rise in results.

But the Northern Ireland exams board, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), and other exam organizations have signaled that they expect grades in 2024 to be similar to pre-pandemic levels.

In 2019, for example, about 30% of entries in Northern Ireland were awarded the top A* or A grades so results in 2024 could be closer to that.

In 2022 and 2023, after the return of exams, students were also given additional guidance about what topics they would be tested on due to the disruption they had faced to their studies during the pandemic.

However, these mitigations were not offered in 2024.

Julia Lasak from Wellington College in Belfast studied biology, chemistry and maths for A-level.

She told BBC News NI she still couldn’t decide exactly how her A-level exams had gone.

“They weren’t horrible, some of the papers were worse than others,” she said.

“I think it’s good that they’re bringing the grades back to 2019, however, I don’t feel like the standard of the papers are back to the way that 2019 was.

“I do think about it because last year when I got my AS results it wasn’t exactly what I wanted.”

She said that she had been predicted to get two A grades and a B grade at A-level.

“My plan is to go to university and the course I’m planning to take is forensic science,” she told BBC News NI.

“It’s something completely different and I’m just hoping it’ll be something interesting.”

Naomi Oyebode, from Methodist College Belfast, studied technology and design, environmental technology and geography.

She told BBC News NI that the expected reduction in grades was “kind of scary”.

“Obviously I know they want to bring it back to the standard it was before Covid, but we went through Covid as well and there were a lot of things we had to go through,” she said.

“I think they’re not taking into account the students.”

So how did she feel about the exams she took?

“You feel fine but then whenever you leave it’s like: ‘Oh! I don’t like how I answered some of the questions,'” she said.

“But some of them were OK.

“It wasn’t too hard, it wasn’t too easy.

“I think some of the questions were definitely trying to mess with your head.”

Naomi wants to become a civil engineer so is planning to study engineering at university if she gets the appropriate grades.

Kyle Bradshaw studied further math, maths, physics, and software systems development at Down High School in Downpatrick.

He also told BBC News NI that the expected reduction in grades “worries me”.

He said that not receiving advance information about what topics would be included in exams was “quite tricky”.

The further maths exam was especially difficult, Kyle continued.

“It was one of the worst exams – my teacher even said it was at university level,” he said.

Kyle is considering taking a gap year after his A-levels before deciding what to do next.

“I have an option to work in music therapy at special needs schools – I’m trying to match math and music,” he said.

The majority of qualifications are taken through CCEA, though some students will also receive grades from English and Welsh exam boards.

Some will also receive results of BTEC qualifications on Thursday.

CCEA will operate a results helpline from Thursday August 15 until Wednesday August 28. The number is 028 9026 1260.

The Department for the Economy’s careers service is also operating an online advice service or you can call 0300 200 7820.