Have a Good NEWS

08/19/2010 A-level results blog

• Luke Sweeney with minute-by-minute coverage as A-level pass rate rises to 97.6%
• 8% of a new variety, * 27% get
• Number of courses in clearing cut by half
• Ucas: 0871 468 0468 and ucas.ac.uk
• Find degree courses with clearing vacancies at clearing.ucas.com
• Read the day's summary

7.40am: Good morning everyone and welcome to the Guardian's all-singing, all-dancing A-level results live blog. It's a huge day for a lot of anxious students, teachers and parents out there today and we are here to keep you up-to-date with all the A-level news as it happens. We want to hear your stories: are you overjoyed with your results and have sailed into your first choice university? Have things not gone quite as planned? How has your school/sixth form college performed this year? Whatever trials and tribulations you are dealing with today â€" we want to hear about them.

7.48am:One of the key issues, educators and politicians will be looking at today is the fact that the difference between the new class * did. Louise Tickle takes a look at what this might mean for students under pressure to perform is not only good but excellent .

7.58am: Amusingly, as we are looking for photographs of people receiving their results to beautify this blog -as yet we can only find pictures of girls. By some lucky twist of fate also all appear to be incredibly attractive! I knew A Level students were becoming cleverer by the year, but better looking too? And blonder? Lucky, lucky, Britain.

This is a classic of the genre, from last year sadly, but good enough to make it's way into today's blog.

Rebecca Thompson (left), 18, from Tyne and Wear, last year "celebrated" in the Central Newcastle High School for Girls library. In my day, celebrations would rarely manifest themselves in such a horizontal manner, but I accept that things have probably changed since 1952.

8.30am: Just how much pressure will the clearing system come under today? Around 170,000 people are expected to miss out on a place at university in England this autumn, With applications to record levels.

The threat of fewer jobs for school leavers this year encouraged more than 660,000 A-level students to apply, 12% more than last year.

Because universities have to adhere to a cap on the places they can offer, around 170,000 people are predicted to miss out this year compared with 100,000 who are rejected in a normal year.

8.37am: Interesting debate on the Today programme just now about whether today will mark a shift in the way we view going to university.

Dianne Johnson, President of Electrical Contractors Association ', believes that we are ", sitting on a ticking Timebomb", where people without being considered as "inferior" ".

She calls on the government to help businesses to offer more apprenticeships so that young workers can learn on the job:

They pay taxes and learn while they earn while paying taxes with money they are paid, it's win win for the goverment.

Aaron Porter of the National Union of Students says that there is a "parity of esteem issue over different qualifications" but a university education must be valued and that Britain's economic advantage in the future will lie in having a highly-skilled (ie university-educated?) workforce.

All the evidence suggests that to enter the university continues to do "great contribution" in the field of economics and business, "he says.

Simon Woodruff, founder of Yo! Sushi, which are not 't go to university, believes in the future will be closer links between business and industry. In the long term, business and industry will participate in the local area, to train more people coming into the world.

He doesn't wish he'd gone to uni incidentally; if anything he'd like to go back and become an actor.

8.49am: What to do if you haven't got your grades?

Our coverage today will help you every step of the way. By 11 am we will have an idea of how many places are available, and soon after we LL 'will provide you with an interactive clear all locations across the country . This has information on fees, bursaries, accommodation, facilities and transport links.

I'll post this link again later.

We've also got a live Q&A between 2pm and 4pm today and tomorrow for advice about clearing, trying to get a place at university in a year of record competition, or taking a gap year. Whatever you need advice about, our exam agony aunts, Deborah Ribchester and Madeleine King, will be there to help. Feel free to add your comments and questions.

Here is a quick guide to some of the other A-level features on guardian.co.uk today:

• We have a step-by-step guide to the clearing process:

• And the university administration organized by topic , for those wanting to start in 2011.

• Here are a few golden rules for opening your A-level results, including:

Don't immediately post your amazing results on Facebook. "It's great to be successful, but some of your friends are going to be dealing with not such good results," advises Hannah, 18.

• The Guardian today comes with a supplement of tips for students, The Fresher. You can read it online here:

I liked Sheffield student Danny Mulley's description of his housemate Becky Frost in this article on student living "Where's the dishwasher?"

Becky is ridiculously messy. We nicknamed her room the floordrobe because she never hangs any of her clothes up.

• And finally, take our quiz about the life of students . Enjoy.

9.09am:Site UCAS may well be your first port of call if you don't get your grades.

Official vacancy lists are published on the Ucas websiteAnd then all contact details can be found here .

If it 's all are a little puzzling, and you need a man interation, hotline will UCAS manned from 8 am-7 pm and 8:30 am today and tomorrow 6:30 pm, and then will work normal business hours, Monday (8.30 am to 6 pm).

Number UCAS helpline: 0871 468 0468.

9.18am: Some stories from the coalface here. A parent, teacher and student write about their anxieties and hopes for A-level results day.

9.22am: The BBC are running an interesting story about Dutch universities trying to tempt British students to their shores.

They argue that the quality of education is high, tuition fees and grants are given below.

Dr. Jeanine Gregersen, director of communications at the University of Maastricht says:

These are courses like life sciences, European law, European studies, arts and culture - these types of programme are still available. We are looking for motivated students who are interested in problem-based learning and want to have this experience in Europe.

Students will need good grades at A-level - typically As and Bs - to be considered.

9.29am: Are we seeing the first signs of how difficult clearing is going to be this year? The University of Exeter has announced:

We will not be entering clearing for any subjects on any of its campuses for Home/EU students this year

Its hotline number is 0844 620 0012. But the university is adamant that it will not be entering clearing at all.

9.36am: We had our suspicions here at Guardian Towers that Central Newcastle High School only provided school places to blondes. But we've found a brunette. And she plays squash!

9.38am: A-level pass rates (A-E) today rose to another record high of 97.6% while an unprecedented 27% of entries achieved an A, Jeevan Vasager reports.

Just over 8% of the entries were awarded the A* grade, introduced this year to help the most competitive universities select the best candidates.

The A-level pass rate rose for the 28th successive year, in results published today for candidates in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, increasing by 0.1% from 97.5% those who passed at grades A to E in 2009.

9:41 am: Some more info on clearing: Nine of the elite Russell Group universities have said they will offer some places through clearing. Cardiff said it would have around 260 places available, Manchester 120 and Newcastle around 100.

9.46am: How many of you are having problems using Ucas Track?

A few of you are already telling us that the Ucas servers "are bloody awful". Is it taking an age? Are you managing to use the site successfully?

Jackbauer17, who is obviously taking a bit of time from saving the Free World to pick up his A-level results, tells us that the going is slow:

I managed to find out that my place is confirmed and that I got the grade. But others cant get in and I only got in 2 times in 2 hours.

Let us know how you are getting on with using the Ucas site.

9.49am: Some news from my colleague Jess Shepherd about the breakdown of subject successes, with maths and science having a good year.

John Dunford, outgoing general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the increase in science and maths shows "that in difficult economic times, students are choosing their subjects astutely and turning to traditional subjects in the belief that they are passports to the top unis and employment".

9.56am: So, you've got your results... and they're fantastic. Before you crack open the Ouzo (like our reader ckymu below), you're probably wondering what schools minister Nick Gibb has got to say about them, right?

Well, he's congratulated all you clever folk:

All students who received their A- and AS-level results today know how hard they have worked and I'd like to congratulate them on their achievement.

But that 'enough positivity. There remains to be done, etc.

England has one of the most stratified and segregated school systems in the world. It is scandalous that of the 80,000 students in one year eligible for free school meals, just 45 got to Oxbridge. The coalition government is committed to all young people, regardless of their background, having the best opportunity to achieve success.

The coalition's reform agenda is designed to tackle this, he tells us:

[G]iving schools the freedom to offer the best exams and to set their own priorities; creating a strong core curriculum which gives children the knowledge to think for themselves and allows teachers to inspire their pupils; introducing the pupil premium to give support to the most disadvantaged; and strengthening vocational qualifications, including the setting up of new technical academies and the expansion of apprenticeships.

-Level is an essential measure performance. We will work with universities and employers to ensure that it meets their needs in the future.

You can get more information from Nick Gibb in this video YouTube:

10.02am: The Department for Education tells us that there is more help on offer if you're in need of advice and aren't getting through to Ucas.

The Exam Results Helpline, funded by the Department for Education, provides free information and advice to students who do not receive the results they expect. The number is 0808 100 8000 from 18 to 28 August.

The Connexions Direct service is also available from 8am to 2am to advise young people on future options open to them, via email, web chat, SMS or the free phone number 0808 001 3219 which includes a free call back option.

There are also tips for parents and young people through the website DirectGov .

10.06am: Ed Balls, the shadow education secretary, has just been interviewed on BBC News. My colleague Paul Owen was listening in.

Balls said: "This is one of those days that stays with you, like getting married or going to secondary school." He added:

We can 't compete on the world if we do not' ve got skilled people we need. There 'a lot of different ways to get the skills. There 'was a huge increase in the number of apprenticeship.

He said apprenticeships were "just as good" as degrees. "We're only going to succeed as a country if we attract the high-skilled jobs. Whether it's an apprenticeship of a university place, we've got to expand these"

The shadow education secretary attacked the government for cutting the Future Jobs Fund, and said he was worried there would be an increase in graduate unemployment. "The right thing to do is expand places, not cut them ... It's disappointing the places have been restricted; that was a decision of the coalition government."

Finally, he attacked those who spoke about the standards fall, how to improve classes. "Let 's not have this nonsense about the dumbing down and on the lighter. It' s not true."

10.28am: Some good advice from hayjane from Twitter about how to get into the papers today. I'm not sure this would work for both sexes. But boys could try donning a wig, and slipping on a short skirt:

Girls: collecting A-level results today and want to get in the papers? Quick! Dye your hair blonde, straighten it, wear a vest top and JUMP

Meanwhile Adam Gabbatt confirms that boys are indeed part of today's story, even if they won't make it into any of the pics:

I can confirm males are getting A-level results today too â€" my little brother just got in touch with news of his

10.42am: Good to see that mini Gabbatt appears to be just as serious and high-minded as his brother:

My little brother, who has neither long blond hair nor ample bosom, has managed to both pass his A-levels and pick up his results. He got an A* in Chemistry, A in Maths, A in Biology and thus will be off to university in September. I've texted the straight-A student to ask how he will be marking the beginning of this new chapter in life. "Gettin pissed," was the reply.

10.49am:Level students chose hard '\\' the most popular items of top universities to improve their chances, reports Jess Shepherd.

Pleasingly: girls are outperforming boys overall in the new A*

Overall, 7.9% of boys' grades were A* compared to 8.3% of girls. Boys outperformed girls in science and maths subjects at A*.

The number of students who chose maths, economics and further maths has soared by 6.2%, 9% and 11.5% respectively.

More than 300,000 UK students took their exams this summer. Fewer people are taking the enitrely useless general studies, just 6% of entries.

English is still the most popular (is Alan Bennett still on the syllabus?) at 10.47% of all A-levels. Biology, chemistry and physics continued their rise, with 5.2% more teenagers studying physics than last year.

10.51am: I know some of you are concerned that we haven't used any photos of boys. Believe me, we are trying ... literally all the pictures from photo agencies that we use are of girls.

But the good news is we've just, yes, at 10.46am, found one of a boy, which you can see right here.

But if there are disgruntled chaps out there, there is a way to redress the balance: send your pics to alexandra.topping@guardian.co.uk and we'll get them on the page.

11.01am: Looks like girly swot Viv Groskop got a A* in English. Well done Viv!

My results at the level of visit .. *! Dazed, proud. But would be happy to sell it to reduce. Who do I contact about this?

Here is Viv's story about why she decided to take an A-level at 37.

11.03am: The lesson that there is always someone who is smarter/better-looking/stronger/faster/funnier than you may as well start when you get your A-level results.

It would be a struggle to beat Southampton student Alison Liu (left), however.

The 17-year-old (yes, yes, she only turns 18 in December) got the best exam score at her college with five A* A-levels in chemistry, biology, maths, economics and general studies from Peter Symonds' College in Winchester, Hampshire.

She also got a B in Chinese. (Ha! says someone, somewhere in the country, who got an A.)

Alison will now go to King 's College London to study medicine.

I completely did not expect this. I was really nervous coming for my results, but it was brilliant when I saw them. At first I read them twice to see they really were A*s and then I remembered to ring my mother.

11.06am: Some comments from the Institute of Directors.

Miles Templeman, director general of the Institute of Directors, said in its annual "Groundhog Day" the debate about whether the best results because of lower standards are often generated by the unhelpful and "more heat than light".

University is not the be all and end all, he added.

Those A-level pupils who haven't won a place in higher education should not despair. University is not the be all and end all. Not all courses will confer the financial rewards so frequently cited, and employers place just as much emphasis on wider employability skills as they do on academic qualifications. There are also other providers of courses, such as further education colleges, which might be a better option for some pupils.

11.15am: If you haven't got the grades, and you want to know what courses are available and where, here is that Ucas helpline again:

UCAS Helpline: 0871 468 0468

11:20 am: Thinktank Civitas have been in touch, accusing education secretary Michael Gove of "throwing the baby out with the bathwater" by proposing scrapping modular A-levels in a bid to restore the "gold standard".

And the teachers, and the best universities, have made clear that once sat, and not a modular-level,
major cause of grade "inflation", they say. Anastasia de Waal, head of family and education at Civitas said:

"Discarding the modular A-level would be to throw the baby out with the bathwater, Modular A-levels can be fit for purpose - in terms of learning and as indicators for universities - if re-sits are scrapped."

11.24am: This is really quite, quite brilliant.

All today's leaping A-level blondes in one place (thanks to guardian.co.uk night editor Jonathan Haynes). Warning, the title of this blog may not be suitable for under 18s: sexyalevels.tumblr.com

11.26am: Here is a great graphic showing the overall A-level pass rate and proportion of A and A* grades

11.27am: Historic moment happening here: WE ARE CHANGING OUR MAIN PIC SO THAT IT FEATURES BOYS.

Take THAT Private Eye.

11.55am: One in 12 A-level exams scored an A* today. A total of 9,302 exam entries (8.1%) were awarded an A*, according to figures published by the Joint Council for Qualifications. This exceeded predictions, based on last year's results, that around 7% would get an A*.

The results show that private school pupils are three times more likely to score the top spot, than public school students, while general, girls achieved more A * S, than boys.

Andrew Hall, executive director of the examining board AQA, said candidates from secondary schools, which are responsible for 43% of the records received 30% * grade awarded.

Students from fee-paying schools, which are responsible for 14% of entries, also took 30% of the A* grades awarded.

Hall insisted that the new way of assessing students was not designed to make A-levels harder.

There is a myth to kill here: at the level did not mean to get harder. What was introduced was somewhat more difficult questions, to show a really strong students, how much better they could perform in the class.

John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said there was "no question" that the exams were harder this year.

These issues were more complicated, how the questions were drafted. Over the past 10 years, people who did-levels, A2 questions will take them through the A, B, C, D, E. She sort of guide you through the answer, then as now the question just comes to you, and you 've to do the analysis, it' s required a different way of teaching.

11.57am: CLEARING NEWS

There are about 18,000 courses with vacancies, UCAS said today, down at 32 000 courses with vacancies in the past year. Number of seats in each course varies from more than 1200 seats in the case of education, more than 700 stories and over 600 human rights, in accordance with the website UCAS.

12:07 pm: Showing great initiative, our experience of the person, Luke Sweeney was comparing the number of places on the site UCAS clearing lists for home and international students.

Here's what he's found out:

Interesting thing in the clearing listings â€" there seems to be a huge number of courses that are only available for international applicants, especially in subjects like economics and law. The clearing listings have 316 economics courses available for home students compared to 888 for international students, including vacancies at Nottingham, Loughborough and Durham.

Law has 1,144 courses available to international students (including Durham and Edinburgh) whereas there are only 634 for home students.

It's all up to government restrictions on the number of English students who don 't apply to foreign students who pay all their fees? Handy for those universities that can charge much higher fees for foreign students.

We have produced three tables explaining each school and college's average results. These are being constantly updated as the results come in.

For comprehensives, click here. For grammar schools, click here. For the sixth form college, click here .

The fact that the number of courses in clearing has almost halved this year is putting pressure on the phone lines.

The clearing hotline has received around 4,000 calls so far this morning.

12:12 pm: Thanks to my colleague Peter Walker who has pointed out that in the space of 12 minutes the Press Association have filed two very important stories. The first is on Miss Newcastle 2009 getting her results, the second is on ... Miss Newcastle 2010 getting her results. Usefully, they are both marked "with pics".

Poor Peter never experienced such fame:

No one photographed me on results day. Not even my parents.

12.23pm: To recap:

• New A* grade has boosted a record year of A-level results. The pass rate went up for the 28th consecutive year, with 97.6% of entries gaining an E or above, up from 97.5% in 2009.

• Each 12-level examinations (8%) was marked by a new class * .

• The number of courses in clearing has been cut by almost half this year, making the scrabble for places more competitive than ever. There are approximately 18,000 courses with vacancies, Ucas said today, down from 32,000 courses with vacancies last year.

• Private school pupils were three times more likely to score the top mark than state school pupils, and overall girls achieved more A*s than boys.Applicants from secondary schools, responsible for 43% of the records received 30% * grade awarded. Students paying schools, which are responsible for 14% of the records, and took 30% * grade awarded.

12.32pm: Our interactive clearing map is now showing which universities still have places available. It is, as yet, incomplete, as we can only add the data we have available, but it will be updated throughout the day.

To find out if the course you want is available, use the Ucas clearing vacancy search.

12.39pm: Further proof of the theory there is always someone who is smarter/better-looking/stronger/faster/funnier etc than you comes in the form of Richard Moon (left), 18, who has earned top grades in maths, further maths, biology, physics and chemistry.

He's off to study medicine at Queens' College, Cambridge.

His assessment: "I'm pretty chuffed, to be honest."

12.41pm: Brendan Barber (left), the general secretary of the TUC, is no fan of the new A* grade, however. He said:

12.49pm: And the £10 WHSmith voucher to first person to grumpily ask "is this news?" in the comments section of this blog goes to lambretta50. Thanks for your contribution!

12.58pm:Not all students receive their results today at the age of 18, despite the image we bombed.

Louise Tickle has written an interesting piece on entering student life older and wiser.

12.59pm: The Girls' Day School Trust (GDST), a group of independent girls' schools in the UK, is understandably keen to shown off its results.

They've just let us know that 59.2% of their grades are As, of which 22.7% are A*s.

The GDST's acting director of education, Lisa Laws, said:

Our girls' results, and those of girls nationally, directly contradict the forecasts that predicted that the new A* grade, alongside the reduction in the number of modules in some subjects, would favour boys. These marks show that hard-working, well-taught, motivated and intelligent girls can achieve fantastic grades.

1.10pm:As we have repeatedly reminded today, there are other options if you don 't get the classes, or you decide that, ultimately, the university is not for you.

National Training Service has more than 9000 vacancies on its website, as well as the work of 200 roles, which offer training.

1.15pm:Congratualtions John Pygott (left), who uses a blog during today's celebration to get the results that he wanted a second time.

He missed out last year, getting three Cs despite being predicted two As and a B. But he regrouped, retook all of his exams, and this year got an A and two Bs. John writes:

I'm very much looking forward to taking up my place at Lancaster University, albeit a year late, studying history and Italian. I'm so so relieved I don't have to go through clearing after last year's disappointments.

We are mostly putting him in here because he has delighted the team by sending in this pic, writing: "You wanted pictures of men celebrating, and I persuaded my long-suffering dad to take this picture."

Well done John â€" and thank you John's dad.

1.23pm: The scrabble for clearing places has well and truly begun, report Jeevan Vasagar and Jessica Shepherd.

Some universities have refused to students who have missed their offers only one score. A total of 180000 candidates pursuing seats in the clearing, compared with 135,000 last year, according to UCAS. There are about 18,500 courses with vacancies, UCAS said, down to 32 000 courses with vacancies in the past year.

On some courses, such as business studies, there are more than 1,200 clearing places for UK and European Union students, while in chemistry and English literature there are barely more than 300. In history, there are more than 700 places through clearing, while there are more than 600 vacancies for law degrees, according to the Ucas website.

1.28pm: My colleague Jessica Shepherd has been speaking to Sunoo Park, 18, who has just discovered she has received six A*s. Sunoo attends Bristol Grammar and has a place to study at Trinity College, Cambridge. She is in Canada representing Britain in the International Olympiad in Informatics, a prestigious computer science competition. Jessica writes:

Sunoo achieved the top grade, which requires 80% across all exams and 90% in the final year, in computing, maths, further maths, physics, Russian and Spanish. Sunoo told the Guardian that she was hoping for all A*s, but knew it "wasn't a given". There wasn't enough time in her timetable for all six subjects, so she had to miss some lessons. Sunoo manages to find time to scuba-dive in her spare time.

Meanwhile, my colleague Rachel Williams is in the nerve center of operations UCAS clearing the body 's headquarters in Cheltenham, where students can call the hotline to seek confirmation that the place is safe and get advice about what to do if they haven 't make the grade and how to use the system.

Rachel writes:

Bosses here say that despite the concerns raised about clearing being the toughest ever this year, so far the volume of calls has been similar to the same time on results days in 2009. But the 100 staff who've been manning the phones since 7am do seem to be exceptionally busy; some journalists (myself included) were told earlier that there was no time for any of the call handlers to break off from their duties to talk to them, even though interviews had been set up in advance. (I should point out that that was eventually rectified after a bit of reporterly foot-stamping).

The LCD screens in every corner of the room tracking how many calls are waiting, how long the longest waiting call has been waiting (if that makes sense) and how many calls have been answered also help build a picture of the volume of students seeking help. As of 1pm â€" half way through the 12 hours the hotline is open for today â€" the number of callers who been dealt with stood at 7,325. That would put the centre on track for a final figure around the same as last year's, which reached 15,000.

This morning, Ucas's head of external relations, Janet Pearce, told me the aim was to keep the figure for the longest call waiting below two minutes, confidently predicting this would be achieved. At the moment they're just about managing that â€" it's hovering around the 1min 50sec mark â€" but earlier I saw it shoot right up to 4:01.

2.10pm: If your A-level results are not quite what you hoped for â€" or maybe are better than you expected â€" for the next two hours our exam agony aunts, Deborah Ribchester and Madeleine King, will be available to answer your questions. Click here to join in.

2.36pm:It's an interesting idea, from the University of Nottingham .

University applicants who haven't got the grades to get into their preferred UK uni are being offered the chance to go east. Apparently Nottingham's campus in Asia still have places available for many degree courses. So instead of studying in the home of Robin Hood, students could opt to study in Malaysia or China for the same Nottingham degree offered in the UK.

Professor Christine Ennew, pro-vice-chancellor for internationalisation at Nottingham, said:

2.52pm: Some pretty graphics from the BBC, showing A-level results by subject and gender.

2.53pm: Good question from Ray Youell at Travel & Tourism Publishing Ltd, who asks which subjects were most represented in the new A* A-level grades. He says:

I ask because my experience from awarding competitive bursaries to students applying to a university was that those taking maths, physics etc bursary examinations always scored more highly than those taking social sciences.

It may also be that only students who are sure to do well to pick up items such as mathematics and further mathematics.

This story from Jessica Shepherd predicts this very outcome.

2.56pm: Here's an audio report from the inimitable Martin Wainwright, who has been speaking to sixth-form students at Havelock academy in Grimsby.

2.57pm: International jet-setter and Guardian writer Benji Lanyado has got some interesting thoughts about A-levels on his blog. Though he is obviously very, very, very bad about Jane Austen.

He quotes this, from entertainment drafting Times, which unfortunately is behind paywall . But here's a snippet to give you the idea:

Yes, in the educational world, an A-level result haul of AAA beats ABB, which is better than BCE. But in the real world nobody recites Beowolf, and the only people who use fractions professionally are drug dealers and racecourse bookmakers. Your grades fall short of your university offer? It's not the end of the world. Churchill never went to university. Nor did John Lennon. Or Tom Stoppard. Or Shakespeare. Or John Major. Or John Humphrys. Or PD James. Or Frank Sinatra.

2.59pm: So here is the breakdown on where the A*s were scored â€" thanks Luke Sweeney.

* The highest percentage of classes has been awarded for further mathematics where 29,9% of the 11,682 candidates received the sign.

Low interest rates * grades were awarded in the media, film and television studies. Just 1,8% of the 33,375 candidates were awarded the top mark - 1,4% of the 15,363 boys and 2.1% of 18 012 girls.

Just 7.4% of the 89,320 candidates taking an A-level English exam (language or literature) were awarded A* â€" 7.5% of 26,927 boys and 7.3% of 62,393 girls.

3.02pm: Liking this story from muldoon about getting his A-level results, back in the day:

Results day 2002, and I had done worse than hoped. As you'd expect, everybody was asking how I'd done, and offered up comforting words once I told them. "Oh that's OK," "Call your first choice anyway; they might still let you in!" (they did, it turned out). All except one friend, Duncan Eatch. He came bounding over and asked how I'd done, and when I told him his face lit up, and he immediately exclaimed, "That spells the word 'DUDE'!"

3:11 pm: Hilarious. Just found out that my colleague Helen Pidd was the blonde A-level girl in her local paper back in 1999.

I refused to jump but instead gave two massive thumbs up. I never made the national papers â€" probably, looking back on it, because I was wearing a Snow Patrol T-shirt (they were cool back then, honest) with a high neck.

3.26pm: This is a very thorough, if slightly unsatisfying, piece on the arguments around grade inflation.

Don't read it expecting a conclusive answer. Patrick Casey writes:

The consistent rise in the performance of A-level students is an undeniable trend. But divining what is driving this, and indeed what the significance of the increases are is extremely difficult ... So, on the testing question of grade inflation in the UK, it seems difficult to offer any kind of conclusive answer. With such a myriad of contributing factors and interpretations of the information, the resumption of the debate this time next year seems more than likely.

3.50pm: In clearing? Try Manchester, York ... or Malaysia. Jessica Shepherd and Luke Sweeney give the full story of that offer for Nottingham to study in the east.

4:00 pm: Some absolutely cracking homoerotic/touching/jumpytastic/blonde photos in our gallery. The first wrestling fun pic wins as far as I'm concerned.

4.10pm: Well, hello there James Gabbatt. After repeated pleas we finally have a photograph of my colleague Adam Gabbatt's brother and his friends celebrating their A-level results in lovely Preston.

It 's 1 with an unreliable (EST) Barnett.

4.20pm: Right, having been here since early o'clock this morning, it's time for me to sign off. Thanks very much for all your comments, links and stories. Congratulations and good luck to all A-level students. Enjoy freshers week if you're off to uni and if not, good luck in the big bad world.

4.37pm: Thanks to Lexy for blogging since this morning, I'm Luke Sweeney and I'll be taking you through until the end of the liveblog this evening. If you've got anything to say or pictures to send in, feel free to drop me a line in the comments.

For those of you who want to enter the world of work after the results level, Ian Prior to our sports editor, just posted a blog comment Free about being the only person in the Guardian news conference without a degree. It's well worth a read:

Not having a degree has some worthwhile advantages. Getting a job at 19 allows you to lead essentially a student's social life but with the considerable bonus of an income.

More pragmatically, it gave me a full three-year advantage over my contemporaries in the workplace, who were still swanning around on post-grads while I was a full-time staffer on a decent morning paper in Belfast.

4.55pm: And while we're recommending blog posts, the Guardian datablog has a breakdown of today's results by subject, school type, region and gender, along with a summary of the data.

The most interesting set is the breakdown of subject choices by gender. Surely it comes as no surprise to learn that performing arts was the most female-dominated subject and that over 90 percent of computing entries were male.

5.08pm: Several universities have tweeted about their clearing services in the past few minutes. Bradford University have commented on the record number of calls to their clearing hotline today.

We've had a record number of clearing calls today, we're open till 8pm tho so keep trying 0800 073 1225

Salford's clearing service will also be available until 8pm, Glamorgan will be open until 7pm and Queen's Belfast until 6pm tonight. It's worth keeping an eye on university twitter accounts if you're looking for further information about clearing as this seems to be a preferred method of communication!

Speaking of record numbers of calls, we've also had an email from Kingston University who have received 63,000 calls to their clearing service so far today and have only 50 places left.

5.18pm:Something worth considering if you 're trying to decide on the University of the price. Jill Insley reports that the average cost of rent 3 Course is currently a staggering 12,000 pounds, with a £ 10,000 difference between the cheapest university town (Belfast, if you 're interested), and the most expensive (London).

5.34pm: In case you wanted to know where the most A* grades were scored, it looks like schools in London and the South East managed to gain the highest percentage of the grades, with 9.6% being awarded the A*. The East wasn't far behind with 8.3% of all exams in the region being awarded the top grade. Here's a wonderful bar chart from our graphics team.

5.47pm: Alison Flood has revealed the latest innovation in university education: a course at Durham University devoted entirely to Harry Potter. 70 students have already signed up.

Exploring issues such as "prejudice and intolerance, peer pressure, good citizenship and ideals of adulthood, [as well as] ways in which the Harry Potter series has helped to rebrand Britain", the course has been reviewed and approved by the faculty's teaching and learning committee.

I for one can't wait to see the Daily Mail's take on this tomorrow morning.

5.53pm: It seems some students have had their unconditional offers revoked - we'd like to hear from you if you know or have heard of anyone in this situation. Drop us a comment below or email madhvi.pankhania@guardian.co.uk

5.58pm: On Twitter and forums some students are still unsure whether they have been accepted for their course. If Ucas Track still hasn't confirmed your choices, watch this video from UCAS; it could well be that the university's still considering you, especially if you were very close to their conditional offer.

6.12pm: Before we sign off for the day, here's a roundup of today's news.

• The pass rate went up for the 28th year in a row, with 97.6% of exams gaining a passing grade. The new A* grade was gained by 8.1% of candidates, slightly more than the exam boards had predicted. A recap of all the statistics can be found here.

• Record 388,322 applicants were accepted into their chosen university or college, an increase of about 8,000 from results day last year. 57.6% of applicants have been placed so far. The race to gain places in clearing has become more difficult, with just 18,000 places on offer this year, a cut of almost 50%.

• UCAS is keeping their customer service unit open until 8pm tonight to cope with high demand, having answered over 11,000 calls today. Many other universities are also leaving their lines open for longer so check their websites for details.

• The Guardian has an updated map of universities offering clearing places and Ucas has a full directory of all the courses nationwide that still have some places to offer.

• There be another live chat from 2-4pm tomorrowwhere your level and cleaning questions will be answered by our experts. Post any questions and concerns on guardian.co.uk / education

This brings us to the end of today 's live blog. Congratulations to all who made it into university courses and all those of you good luck, or going through a bank transfer, and is looking for alternative ways.

Have a Good NEWS