Hundreds of thousands of students will get their A-level results today across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, in the first exams held since before the COVID pandemic.

Grades are expected to go down overall compared with last year, but should be higher than in 2019.

The summer exams were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic and students were awarded grades decided by teachers.

This year’s race for university places is expected to be one of the most competitive yet, with almost 40% of students thought likely to make use of the clearing system to find a place on a course.

Admissions service Ucas acknowledged that universities have been more cautious in their offer-making.

It added that while it expects record or near-record numbers of students to get onto their first-choice courses, the process will not be “pain-free” for all, with some students left disappointed.

While some schools and colleges ask students to collect their results in person, others will publish the results online.

The Department for Education said record numbers of students, including high numbers of disadvantaged students, are still expected to start university in September.

The Association of Colleges Chief Executive David Hughes said the class of 2022 faced “unprecedented disruption to their education”, while Education Secretary James Cleverly said every student collecting their results should be proud.

Courses for clearing drop after ‘admin blip’

Students who miss out on their first choices for university have been urged not to panic and instead turn to teachers for advice and support.

However, the number of courses for students in clearing dropped ahead of results day, with one university blaming an “administrative blip”, for showing more than 500 as available when they shouldn’t have been.

Students can use clearing to see what courses or universities might be available to them if they need an alternative plan.

As of Wednesday morning, a PA news agency snapshot of the UK’s largest higher education providers showed there were 22,685 courses with vacancies for students living in England, down from 23,280 on Friday.

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The University of Liverpool had shown 529 courses as available in clearing on the Ucas website last week but it is understood this should not have been the case and was an “administrative blip”.

A spokeswoman for the university said clearing at its university will be for “a small number of high-quality candidates in a range of subjects”.

They added: “The Ucas clearing pages were live for a period of time for pre-qualified applicants, as is the case each year. We removed the pages while we determine which courses are available in advance of results day tomorrow, when we will advertise any vacancies.”

The change saw options at the Russell Group universities – of which Liverpool University is a member – dwindle compared to last week, with 1,785 courses at 15 of the 24 elite institutions as of Wednesday morning, compared with 2,358 courses at 17 of them on Friday.

Last year it was announced that A-level students sitting exams this summer would find out what topics they would be tested on to help them prepare.