Around 36.4% of A-level marked on A* and this year, while last year, 44.8% of the test was assessed A or above.
This is the first time since 2019 that the A-level value is based on a public exam, after two years of cancellation due to Pandemic Covid.
Students also receive T-Level, BTEC, and other results on Thursday.
The university acceptance service, Ucas, said 65.3% of students in the UK who applied to the university were offered their first choice.
This year’s Level marking system has been adjusted, so the value reflects the “midpoint” between 2019 – when 25.4% is A* and value – and 2021 when the value assessed by the teacher causes an explosion on the top sign.
The British exam supervisor said the approach was intended to bring closer grades to the pre-pandemic level while reflecting “that we are in the period of recovery of pandemic and student education have been disrupted”.
Similar plans were implemented for Northern Ireland and Wales.
In Scotland, where students received their exam results on August 9, graduation rates at a higher level dropped to 78.9% – down from 87.3%Grade in 2021.
Grade boundaries
Specific steps were introduced for this year’s A-level to ward off educational disorders caused by Covid, such as sophisticated information about the topic.
And class limits – the number of signs needed for each class – are softer this year than before the start of the pandemic.
The A-level value is lower than last year because the system is adjusted to counteract sharp increases in the upper class over the past two years, rather than a pure reflection of the work of individual students. But the value is still higher than in the 2019 Grade.
This is likely to be a competitive year for some students who want to start the university. There are more children aged 18 years in this year’s population and a slightly higher percentage of applying for a place, according to Ucas.