A-level results day will not be ‘pain-free’, head of Ucas says

Ucas, Ofqual and DfE hope to steady nerves as this year's university admissions set to be among the most competitive in living memory

The head of the universities admissions service has said this year's A-level results were never going to be pain-free", as students are told to prepare themselves for lower grades and increased competition for university places.

With results published on Thursday, the Ucas chief executive, Clare Marchant, said the government's policy of reining in grade inflation in order to bring results gradually back to a pre-pandemic level, had been necessary but it was not easy".