Students in the UK, on Thursday, braced themselves as they expect A-level results which have been predicted to suffer a plunge in grades since last year as examiners decided to return to pre-pandemic marking.

After top A-level results were released in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on Thursday morning, experts were quick to observe that the result has fallen for a second year running with 27.2% of all grades marked at A* or A.

Thursday’s results were awarded according to the marking scheme that is almost back to pre-pandemic levels, observing a steeper drop in England, where grades were due to be brought back in line with 2019 in this year’s results.

In Wales and Northern Ireland, grades were always meant to be a bit higher this year. Overall, there are 73,008 fewer top grades compared with 2022, but 31,834 more than in 2019, the BBC reported.

Previously, as examinations were replaced with teacher assignments, a fifth of hundreds of thousands of students scored an A* due to generous marking by teachers during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

Education ministers in Britain insisted that bringing back 2019 standards may allow a fair comparison of students over the years but there are fears that poorer students will bear the brunt of grade deflation as they missed more school during lockdown, The Sun reported.

While Britain’s Minister of State for Schools Nick Gibb encouraged universities and colleges to be “mindful of disadvantaged students” when awarding places, Vivienne Stern of Universities UK advised students to have a backup plan in case they fail to get their grades.

Additionally, students who were turned down by their top universities will compete for 30,000 clearing courses.

Many are concerned that they would be outbid by foreign students who pay higher tuition after several colleges invited them to apply for clearing positions before the A-level results were released.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: “Thousands will get the results they need to take hold of their future, whether at university, through an apprenticeship or in the world of work.”

On the contrary, more than 45,000 students in Pakistan have expressed their dismay at AS and A-Level results that were announced on August 10 by CIE on an average points system.

The reason for this is that regular examinations were cancelled due to political unrest ensuing across the country.

“It is the school which charges heavy fees from the students and it is the school which takes pride when one of the students gets admission in Harvard University,” career counsellor and educationist Syed Abidi said.

“Cambridge had also given the option to take the examination in October/November if they are not taken due to some unrest. The schools should stand and charge no fees for that and prepare students for exams by giving them tuition separately if such incident occurs.”