Results Day 2023: the story so far…

This has been another unprecedented year in the UK assessment framework. Still reeling from the effects of Covid and teacher assessed grades, this year’s cohort has had to contend with a further shift in the narrative as government policy returns assessment/grading back to pre-pandemic 2019 levels, attempting to make grading more ‘credible’ with employers. 

Whatever the reasoning behind policy changes, the ramifications have been felt by thousands of students across these isles, particularly those who did not achieve the grades they expected and now enter clearing, recalibrating their next steps moving forward.   

Whether prospective students have entered clearing because they have not achieved their expected grades or because they have exceeded their expectations, clearing provides them with the opportunity to cast a wider net and fine tune their search to best match their needs with exam outcomes.  

Our latest 2023 Results Day Report presents a fascinating glimpse into the behaviour of students on the day. By comparing 2022 Results Day data with 2023, we gain valuable insights into this year’s clearing demand for the most popular subjects, sub-disciplines, destinations and where demand is predominantly coming from this year. Moreover, it provides a birds-eye view into activity seen across our Whatuni and CUG website advice pages, presenting a window into what is really on clearing students’ minds in 2023.  

Throughout the course of the day, we saw an overall drop in medium and high tariff points, dropping by 11.2% by midday and then stabilising to 10.2% by the afternoon — a strong indication of the return to pre-pandemic grading in line with Government policy. This trend correlates highly with the increased demand for courses with foundation offerings, further indicating the overall drop in expected grades.  

Rather than deterring students from medicine, the pandemic may have incentivised interest in this field of study with Health & Medicine the most popular subject area on results day. This was closely followed by Social Studies and Media and Applied and Pure Sciences. The NHS Workforce Plan and commitment to increasing the workforce by expanding medical places and the ‘train, retain and reform’ initiative could also be a contributing factor, with medicine up 5.1% from 2022. However, it could also be indicative of students not getting their expected grades and consequently looking for alternatives, Medicine being one. As far as sub-disciplines are concerned, the most popular on Results Day were Computer Science, Medical Technology/ Pharmacology and Economics.  

A further anomaly revealed in the report is, despite the cost of living and the implications this has on both students and their wider families, demand from students wanting to stay local is in fact down by 3.9% YOY. Demonstrating, a consistent desire from students wishing to have the full university experience by studying away from home.  

Our Whatuni advice pages also saw increased search activity from BTEC students on this day. In fact, the most searched question was: ‘Are BTECs as valuable as A-Levels?’ A cohort often underrepresented in the media on Results Day, but no less significant with BTEC Level 3 quals equivalent to 2-3 A-Levels. The level of interest from this cohort on the day implies there are many BTEC students out there hoping to secure their place through clearing. However, it could also infer a lack of knowledge on the part of BTEC students regarding the options available to them in terms of university, which may require better information, advice and guidance on the part of career advisers within FE.  

The most popular study destinations among students on Results Day continues to be Greater London, South-East England and the East Midlands, although the Midlands has declined in popularity from the second most popular destination in 2022, down to third place in 2023. 

With A-level results falling for a third consecutive year, with just 27.2% achieving A* or A, compared to 36.4% in 2022 and 44.8% in 2021, students have naturally felt daunted by this year’s assessment process, and rightly so. It has been a tough-few years, not just with shifts in policy around grading, but also concerns around the current cost of living. While some of the findings in the Results Day 2023 report will not necessarily come as a surprise, there are many areas which do. Shared here are just some of the valuable insights the Results Day 2023 Report contains. Student activity observed on the day is a good indicator of what they are feeling, needing and looking for in terms of clearing and acts as a good marker for ongoing trends: http://bitly.ws/SFmv