Everything You Need To Know About A-level Results Day 2024

Officially, Thursday 15th of August is the date set for A-level results day 2024 for both English and Scottish students – we highly recommend you pop this into your diary. 

With this date fast approaching, it’s important to get clued up on absolutely everything you need to know before you begin opening your A-Level results.

So, here at Homes for Students we’ve compiled a list of everything you need to know about A-level results day 2024 to help you get prepared for the big day.

Carry on reading to find out!

What Happens On A-level Results Day 2024?

If you’ve collected your GCSE results before then you have nothing to be scared about whilst picking up your A-level results!

It’s a time to celebrate and be proud of how far you’ve come during your education over the course of two years. 

No matter what your post-sixth form or college plans are, A-level results day is an important day for so many students across the UK.

Not only are you finding out what grades you’ve achieved in each of your subjects, but you’ll also know whether you got into the university of your choice – if you applied!

This mini-guide will allow you to understand the process of the day ahead.

How To Prepare For A-level Results Day

With A-level Results Day on the horizon, if you’re wanting to get prepared then don’t worry, we’ve listed all of the necessities you need to bring with you for the big day.

Like they say, failing to prepare is preparing to fail!

• Copy of your AS results
• Fully charged mobile phone
• A pen and paper
• Contact details for your firm and insurance choice universities
• Clearing app – Available to download from the iOS or Google Play store
• UCAS letter with your UCAS number and conditional offer grades
• Copy of your reference, and their contact details

We’d also suggest bringing along someone with you to A-level Results Day as it can be a pretty nerve-wracking day, whether it’s a family member, a friend, or someone else, having some moral support can be really useful!

It’s also important to think about how you’re going to get to your college or sixth form to pick up your results too.

On the day it will be mega busy, so try to plan in advance how you’ll get there – it’s one less thing to worry about then.

How Do I Get My A-Level Results?

On the day of A-level results day, you can collect your results from your school or college, it’s best to find out beforehand their exact opening and closing times, as this does vary from each institution.

If for some reason you cannot collect your results, you should let your school or college know as soon as possible to arrange for someone to collect them on your behalf or send them to you via post.

Due to security reasons, you will most likely need to provide some information to access your results, so be sure to have your UCAS number, date of birth and postcode ready beforehand.

Usually, you’ll find students pop into their school or college to collect results or they’re mailed out and opened at home, but the choice is completely up to you how you’d rather open yours! 

For UCAS, you should have already had access to their online track system which allows you to track your application once it’s been sent.

Using Track you’ll be able to find your firm and insurance universities. 

What Time Are A-level Results Released?

The universities you have chosen as your firm and insurance choices will have received your A-level results a few days prior to results day, which means your university offers will update on UCAS Track early on in the morning.

On A Level Results Day 2024, UCAS will release results at 08:00am. 

Not to worry if it isn’t exactly 08:00am as UCAS will have a huge volume of results to process on this day (as you can expect) and it might take the server time to load.

What Happens After Receiving Your A-level Results?

Taking a look back at the start of the year, from writing your dreaded personal statement to deciding on your choices for your university application…we bet it feels like a long time ago! 

As a refresh, we’ll quickly dive into the UCAS track system definitions you’ll need to remember for your A-level results day:

Conditional Offer – The University or College which you have applied for has offered you a place for the coming year. This offer is subject to you meeting the requirements set out by the same University.

Unconditional Offer – The University which you have applied for has offered you a secure place for the coming year with no specific requirements needed.

Firm offer – The choice you want the most if you meet the requirements from the University.

Insurance offer – The choice placed below your firm choice in case you don’t meet the requirements needed.

The UCAS track system will allow you to see whether you’ve received the grade requirements for your firm and insurance choices. 

Receiving Your Firm Offer

It’s time to give yourself a pat on the back and CELEBRATE! Getting your predicted grades is an amazing achievement and can make the next process a little simpler for you.

If you want to stick with your firm choice and confirm your university place then leave things as they stand – the UCAS track system will do the work for you. A confirmation letter will be sent out to you via email confirming your firm choice.

Then you can sit back, relax and discover things you probably should know before you begin your university journey!

If you’re having doubts about your firm choice, don’t feel pressured into accepting as you can always decline and go through the clearing process offered by UCAS. 

What To Do If You Don’t Get Your Firm Offer

First things first, don’t go into panic mode. Whatever happens, this is the path you were meant to take and it’s important you don’t forget this! 

If UCAS track says you haven’t made your firm offer, make sure to check your insurance offer as this might come through for you.

If not, there are many options for you to choose from, which might fall better for you such as the clearing process.

For more information on this make sure to check out our blog on what to do next.

Accepted Onto An Alternative Course

If a university is unable to offer you a place on the original course you applied for, perhaps because there is too much competition or because you didn’t meet the exact entry requirements, they may make you an offer for an alternative, related course instead.

Whilst you do not have to accept the offer, if you do decline it you will be released to your insurance choice or have to go through clearing.

What To Do If You Get Better Grades Than Predicted

If you get much better grades than you predicted, this is an amazing accomplishment and something you should definitely be shouting about!

Not to worry though, if you’re holding a firm unconditional place, you can use Clearing, by selecting the ‘decline your place’ button within your application.

Unsure About Whether You Want To Go To University?

This is nothing to feel alone about, most students are wary about making a final decision on their university place as it’s a huge commitment. 

You may find that since submitting your UCAS application, things have changed and it’s not suited to what you want to do at the minute. This is not uncommon and you can follow the process of ‘Deferring’.

Deferring essentially means taking a year out before coming back to university to begin your course. It suits those who decide to go travelling or work for the year before they get back into education. 

This may be a better option for you if you’re having doubts, rather than opting to go to uni if you’re on the fence about it. 

What Happens Next?

Once you’ve made your final decision on a University place, the process leading up to this newfound life is exciting but you have a lot to prepare for!

From sourcing out your student accommodation to organising student loan details to setting up a student bank account to preparing for freshers week to researching your uni city or town, there is so much to look forward to!

Here at Homes for Students offer a wide range of student accommodation across the UK perfect for you to begin your university life.

Make sure to check out our properties across the UK. Our friendly teams are happy to chat through options with you over the phone or via email.

The countdown is on until August 18th, and we’re wishing you all the best for A-level Results Day 2024. 

Fingers crossed you get into the university of your dreams and all of your hard work pays off!

We hope our post has been useful for helping you to prepare for the big day.

Read next: All You Need To Know About Moving To University In 2023.