A-level results in 2025: Reflections for the higher education sector

A-levels results day is a big day for prospective students across (and beyond) the UK, for universities, and for the higher education sector at large. We asked some of our higher education leaders what they have taken from the A-levels news and data for 2025.

This has been a great year for students, with 82 per cent getting into their first-choice institution. This is great for students but it poses serious challenges for much of the sector. 

Higher tariff institutions continue to take a larger share of students, with 35 per cent of placed home students being accepted into a higher tariff institution. And this number might go up. Students have the chance to ‘trade up’ during Clearing and many who performed better than they might have expected may be keen to try. The numbers are even clearer for international: 69 per cent of international students have been accepted into a higher tariff institution. If we look at the graduating cohort, who started in 2022, 32 per cent of home and 65 per cent of international students were accepted into higher tariff institutions at this stage. Over the course of three years of study, these ‘extra’ students could provide almost half a billion pounds to higher tariff institutions.

This poses serious questions for less selective institutions. Lower tariff providers accepted 136,000 students in 2022 and this is down to 129,000 this year. They are not getting the benefit of the demographic bump. This is equivalent to a loss of more than £150 million of revenue for this part of the sector. The sector has serious questions about how to respond to this changing dynamic. 

This all points to the need to differentiation, in both substance and branding. If universities look the same or similar to students, they will go for the one that looks ‘the best’. There are plenty of rankings that can help them find it. UK universities have traditionally been fantastic at specialising. Some of this has fallen by the wayside as many universities have sought to become comprehensive teaching and research institutions. This data suggests it’s time to try something else.

Julie Mercer, Principal

The enduring regional differences in university attendance stand out to me in this data. We see that 32 per cent of 18-year-olds have been accepted into university. But this picture looks very different across the country. 19.4 per cent of 18-year-old men from the North East were accepted into university from the data today. 47.5 per cent of 18-year-old women from London were accepted. 

These numbers are stark in themselves but they speak to a wider challenge of regional inequality in higher education. It does feel unnecessary when there are so many fantastic institutions in areas with lower participation. 

The continuing and, if anything, worsening nature of this inequality is the big challenge that comes from this. In 2016, an 18-year-old Londoner was 17 per cent more likely than the national average to be accepted. They are now 36 per cent more likely. And London’s the only big improver. Over the same time period, 18-year-olds from the North East went from being 11 per cent less likely to be accepted to being 22 per cent less likely. In Wales, it has gone from 6 per cent less likely to 18 per cent less likely. In Yorkshire and the Humber, it's moved from 2 per cent less likely to 11 per cent less likely.

Addressing this inequality of access feels like the big challenge, and opportunity, for the higher education sector, the wider education sector, and society in general.

Simon Lancaster, Principal

From a student’s perspective, university is both a life experience and a means to an end. How can I get a job that interests me and rewards me well? Students’ subject choices give us a window into their thinking and their understanding of the job market. Quite a few subjects have seen big shifts.

Engineering, Maths, and Law are the big year-on-year risers, all increasing by more than 10 per cent. The big drops are more constrained. Computing fell by slightly more than 5 per cent while Language and Area Studies and Combined and General Studies both fell by slightly less than that.

The longer-term trends are also interesting here. Since 2019, Subjects Allied to Medicine have gone from 11.0 per cent to 12.0 per cent of admissions (increasing share by 9.2 per cent and students by 7,790), Engineering has increased from 5.8 per cent to 6.8 per cent (increasing share by 17.6 per cent and students by 6,250) and Law has increased from 5.1 per cent to 6.2 per cent (increasing share by 21.3 per cent and students by 6,300). On the other hand, Social Sciences dropped from 11.5 per cent to 10.5 per cent, Language and Area Studies fell from 4.2 per cent to 3.1 per cent and Design, and Creative and Performing Arts dropped from 10.7 per cent to 9.6 per cent.

It's easy to read too much into this but, we’re clearly seeing some disruption in what students are looking to get out of their studies. Areas of study with a well understood professional connection are developing strongly while areas without this are struggling. Computing is an interesting piece in this. It’s been easy to talk about a flight to STEM in an uncertain jobs market, but the clear year-on-year drop here may be a sign that students understand that AI is shifting the market again. Let’s see what’s next.

Darren Leafe, Principal

UCAS started collecting more nuanced information about applicants’ potential barriers to university three years ago. Three of these stand out: applicants with care responsibilities, parental responsibility, or who are estranged from their parents. While the numbers aren’t big, the narrative is positive. We’ll look at younger students aged 19 or below, to see how this plays out.

The narrative is highly mixed across these three. 

On the positive side, 1,240 students with parental responsibility have been accepted in 2025. This is up from 740 in 2023. Both men and women have seen a similar improvement. Things are fairly flat for the number of accepted students who are estranged from their parents. Acceptances increased across the two years from 3,100 to 3,200. The story for young people with care responsibilities is less positive. Acceptances fell from 9,730 to 9,140. But this was a highly gendered fall. Eighty more women with care responsibilities were accepted in 2025 than in 2023. 

The narrative is less positive for older students (20 and above). Older students with caring responsibilities have dropped strongly and there’s a notable drop for parents over 20. Older students who are estranged from their parents have slightly increased.

This mixed success speaks to the challenges to access and widening participation across the sector. Everyone – regardless of their caring responsibilities, parental responsibilities or estrangement from their parents – deserves the chance of an excellent education. There’s a lot more to see and explore here. For example, we have the headline data on ethnicity, with more students from each recorded ethnic group being accepted. But we need more time to situate this in the wider context. The headline remains: even in cost-constrained times, we need to think about how we widen participation.

Abby Nduva, Director

International is the big story (or non-story) for me. As with last year, 12.0 per cent of accepted applicants are international students. This is the second smallest share of international students in the past ten years. While not much has changed on the surface, there’s movement underneath.

The increased Chinese share of 23.5 per cent is higher than any year except 2022, suggesting that efforts at diversification have not borne fruit. India, the next biggest country, makes up 8.0 per cent of the international market. 

We’ve seen some big year-on-year increases: the USA, Turkey, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia have all seen triple digit increases. But at the same time, India, Hong Kong, and Malaysia have seen triple digit falls. So has the EU when taken together. 

As Julie as notes above, students overwhelmingly attend higher tariff institutions. So while 21 per cent of the intake at higher tariff institutions will be international, only 4 per cent of the lower tariff institution will be. All of this informs both institutional finances and how universities push towards internationalisation at home.

Of course, undergraduates are only part of the game when it comes to international. The postgraduate figures are still to come. The current information suggests quite a mixed picture for the sector here. With the more stringent visa compliance requirements and the potential International Student Levy, the financial model for international students is becoming tighter. And this will flow through the whole of sector.

Nic Dillon, Director

A-level results day is one of the big moments in the higher education calendar, as well as for families up and down the UK. There’s a lot to celebrate as people move onto the next stage of their lives.

This year's data shows that, under the surface, the challenges are becoming more obvious, even as universities work hard to address them.

The data suggests that, while higher-tariff institutions have done what they can to stabilise their own finances, this has flow-on effects for others, who may now face more intensive challenges. It shows that some cohorts are increasingly falling between the cracks when it comes to equitable access to higher education.

The current financial model makes it hard for universities to rise to society’s diverse expectations. The next challenge will be to consider how they will ultimately square this circle.

Get in touch to discuss the future of UK higher education.

Connect with Julie Mercer, Simon Lancaster, Darren Leafe, Abby Nduva, and Nic Dillon on LinkedIn.