"Well done you", says Radio 1's Vicky Hawkesworth in a message to students receiving their results today.

"No matter what's on that piece of paper, you should be proud of yourself."

"If the results aren't quite what you wanted, that's alright," she adds. "It isn't the end of the world, it might feel like it right now... the world is huge."

Evie Lake
Journalist, BBC North East & Cumbria

Image source, English Martyrs Catholic School

We're continuing to hear from students across the country who have collected their A-level results this morning.

A Ukrainian refugee says she wants to work towards a career helping people back in her home country after getting into university.

Anastasiia Sochka came to Hartlepool from Ukraine with her mum, Victoria, in summer 2022 and initially struggled because of the language barrier.

Studying at English Martyrs Catholic School, Sochka achieved an A* in Russian, an A in Psychology and a B in Sociology.

She says she was "so happy" to break the news to her dad, Andrew, who is fighting in the Ukrainian army.

"It was nice to be able to give him that good news because I wanted to make him happy. I miss him a lot," Sochka says.

Sochka is now heading to Newcastle University and says she would like to be a social worker.

"Lots of people are struggling in Ukraine now because of poverty due to the war, and I want to be able to help them," she says.

"Seeing what's happened has influenced me and changed my life perspective. I hope that by the time I graduate, the war will be over.”

Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent

More A* and A grades went to girls than boys across England, Wales and Northern Ireland this year – 137,000 compared to 120,900.

But more girls sit A-levels in the first place, and looking at the percentage of boys and girls getting these top grades suggests that boys are actually doing better.

This year, 28.9% of all grades given to boys were A*s and As, compared to 28% of grades given to girls.

It used to be the other round, and last year was the first year boys overtook girls in this respect since 2018. Now, that gap has widened.

Girls are still outperforming boys when you look at a broader range of grades, though.

For example, 79.8% grades given to girls were marked A* to C, compared to 76.8% of boys’ grades.

Political Studies is the subject that has seen the biggest increase in A-level entries this year after 11.9% more students chose to study it than in 2025-26.

Meanwhile, Drama has seen the largest drop in students - and Music, English Literature and Physical Education have all seen fewer people choosing to study the subjects this year.

Robbie Meredith
Northern Ireland education correspondent

A-level results in Northern Ireland have improved again in 2026.

Around 30.7% of A-level entries in Northern Ireland have been awarded A* or A grades in 2026 compared to 30.3% in 2025.

Around one in every 12 (8.8%) A-level entries in Northern Ireland has been awarded at the top A* grade.

Over 26,000 students in Northern Ireland received their A-level, AS-level and BTEC results on Thursday.

Rebecca McVeigh, who goes to Ashfield Girls’ High School in Belfast, received three Bs in History, Geography and Environmental technology, which has enabled her to take up a place on a foundation year degree course at Cambridge University.

She told BBC News NI that her mum had been "her rock" as she waited for her results.

Rebecca picked up her results online but went into school to see her teachers and friends.

Cachella Smith
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

A record number of 18-year-olds have been finding out they have secured a place at their first choice of university this morning as A-Level, T-Level and BTec results are released.

We've been speaking to students across the country who have told us they're taking the next steps towards their dreams of working in Formula 1, studying medicine or becoming a solicitor.

Here's what you need to know:

• Almost 229,000 18-year-olds will find out today they have been accepted into their first choice for university while more than 31,000 have secured a place at their insurance choice
• That's a record in terms of raw numbers going to their first choice - but as our education correspondent reports there has been a rise in the number of 18-year-olds in the UK
• Meanwhile, the proportion of A-level grades marked A* or A have risen across the board at 28.3% in England, 29.6% in Wales and 30.7% in Northern Ireland
• Triplets Scarlett, Tabby and Grace all for into their first choice university and are excited to visit each other, while Emily in Hartlepool says despite feeling sick this morning, her hard work has paid off

• Many have told us they found the lead-up to today nerve-wracking, but 18-year-old Bobi Jones hasn't had time to worry having been too busy tackling wildfires as an on-call firefighter

If you didn't get the results you were hoping for or you're unsure on next steps, we're on hand to answer your questions.

BBC Newsbeat
Jasmine Sandhar, reporting from Truro and Penwith College in Cornwall

Opening your results in front of friends and family is brave enough, but what about doing it with a mic and camera pointed at you?

BBC Newsbeat has found some students who were up to the task at Truro and Penwith College in Cornwall.

There was a beaming smile on Nick Basher’s face as the 19-year-old realised he’d achieved a merit in his Digital Production Design and Development T-level.

“I’ve been waiting a couple of months so there's been a little bit of nerves,” he says.

But opening the envelope wasn’t as stressful as it could’ve been, as he’s recently secured a full-time job at a solicitors working on their IT.

“I am hoping to continue that within the company and look at whatever opportunities arise during that,” he says.

Elsewhere in the college, Ella Thomas, 19, says she was feeling a mixture of “excitement and relief” after finding out she got a distinction in her Extended Diploma in Creative Practice: Art, Design and Communication.

She’s heading to Falmouth University to study Game Art and says her results have given her “a boost of confidence in myself that I can do what I want to achieve”.

Bethan Lewis
BBC Wales Family & Education Correspondent

As we've been reporting, the proportion of top A-level grades marked A* or A have risen in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

For a third year, A-level results in Wales show a relatively stable picture after the years of pandemic disruption. The overall pass rate and top grades are slightly up.

Results from AS level, taken a year in to A-level courses and which still contribute 40% to the final grade in Wales, are slightly down on 2025.

At Olchfa School in Swansea this morning, which has one of the biggest sixth forms in Wales with 550 students, even those who didn’t get what they wanted were philosophical and some still got into their first choice university.

One thing that is notably different this year is that it’s a Plaid Cymru minister congratulating students after the party won May’s Senedd election.

A few months in, they won’t have had much impact on these results, but they have plenty of challenges to address including sorting out the problems of higher education in Wales.

Emily Holt
Education reporter, reporting from Canterbury

At Canterbury Academy in Kent there’s delight all round for three sisters.

Scarlett, Grace and Tabby Taylor have successfully made their firm choices, with Scarlett heading off to Oxford to study geography, Grace to do history and politics at Sussex University and Tabby to pursue dance at Bath Spa University.

The triplets are ecstatic for themselves, and for each other.

"It's proven to me I can do university and I will be able to succeed," Tabby says.

"I can do what I want to do and get where I want to be," Scarlett adds.

The triplets are also excited to visit each other at university.

Scarlett adds: "We will be able to see other places, it's so cool."

Our journalists are speaking to students across the country as they open their results this morning - follow along by clicking watch live above.

Emily, a student at English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College in Hartlepool, says she's happy with her A*, A and B after having felt "a bit sick" this morning.

She's now looking forward to starting a degree apprenticeship to become a solicitor. Emily says decided to take this route for the experience "now it's harder to get a job".

"Once you get the experience, it's a lot to put on your CV," she says.

"I've worked really hard, I've tried and that's all I can do at the end of the day - at least it's paid off."

Meanwhile, Civ is now set for Newcastle University after getting two A*s and an A this morning.

He tells the BBC: "I'll do medicine and hopefully become a doctor" - a career path he decided on after speaking to his careers adviser in Year 11.

And as for celebrations today?

"I think I'll go and have a lie-in because it's a bit early and I might go out later," he says

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   

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 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.