A level results day is on Thursday 13 August 2026 in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. It’s estimated that 250,000 students will collect their grades.
A-Level results day 2026: four things parents need to know
1. When is A levels results day 2026?
Thursday 13 August 2026 is the day students receive their A level results.
2. What time does UCAS Hub update on Results Day?
From 8am, students will be able to see if they have met their firm offer on the UCAS Hub. If the student hasn’t met their firm offer but has met their insurance offer, they will see the offer from their insurance choice.
Good to know: UCAS only shows an offer a place. There are no results available on the UCAS Hub.
3. How to help your child navigate UCAS Clearing
UCAS updates from 8am but the time students can collect their results varies from school or college. Some schools offer students the opportunity to pick up results from 8am; some request students come in as late as 1pm. Students can also opt to get their results via email and, again, timings can vary but will always be after 8am when the UCAS embargo ends.
• Even if your son or daughter has opted to receive their grades via email, many also opt to go into school or college. This can be an opportunity to celebrate with friends and teachers or a great way top get advice on an insurance choice or Plan Bs with school staff.
• In the days prior to results day, the universities have the results and all information is embargoed so the UCAS Hub can look different with ‘missing’ offers or less information than was previously available. Sometimes it can take a while for UCAS to update; so students may need to be patient. If a student has narrowly missed their grades, they may still have received an offer from their first choice uni. If the status has changed to ‘unconditional’, this means the student has a place. It may also say ‘changed course offer’, which means the university is offering the student a place on a different course that they will need to accept or decline.
• If they have met the conditions for their first choice uni, they are automatically accepted. The student will get an email from the university offering congratulations at some point after 8am. They don't need to do anything on UCAS in terms of accepting the offer. However, they DO need to accept if the offer has changed or if their insurance choice has made an offer.
• Work starts to prep for uni as soon as the offer is confirmed and the student needs to make sure they get their accommodation booked, student finance sorted and, if applicable, choose modules for their course as many of the most popular choices will get booked up.
• There are a number of reasons for students to go through Clearing including if the student didn’t get into their firm (CF) or insurance (CI) choice universities or didn’t receive any offers when they first applied. Students can also go through clearing for places on courses if they did better than expected. Make sure the student has their UCAS clearing number to hand and has the phone numbers for universities they've applied for or know they want to talk to. It’s an old school process of calling up to discuss places. Make sure they also have their personal statement to hand in case they are asked questions about what they have written.
4. Where to find 2026 A-level grade boundaries
A full list of grade boundaries for each subject is published at 8am on results day. Here are the links for some of the most common exam boards:
Image credit: THE TELEGRAPH
