When Is A Level Results Day 2023: Everything You Need To Know

With A Level results day fast approaching, we thought we’d help to calm those nerves by shedding some light on everything you can do to prepare for the day you’ve been waiting for - including how to deal with results day stress and anxiety. 

It’s understandable if you’re feeling apprehensive and uncertain, but we’re here to bring some clarity to this important day and offer some tips and advice to help things run as smoothly as possible, even in the event that you don’t quite get the results you were anticipating. 

When is A Level results day 2023?

First thing’s first, when actually is A Level results day this year?

Students will be able to see whether they’ve been accepted into their firm or insurance choice university via the UCAS Track site on Thursday 17th August 2023 from 8am, but some students prefer to wait until they’ve opened their A Level results at college or sixth form before checking out their university offers! 

This can be a good idea if you’re feeling a little nervous as your teachers will be able to offer support and advice should things not go as planned.

For Scottish students, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) will publish exam results online on Tuesday 8th August 2023.

How to prepare for A Level results day 

After so much build up, you may be wondering what exactly you can do to prepare for finding out your A Level results and what steps you can take to help alleviate any stress. 

You don’t have to take any major actions, but it’s good to have an idea of what you’ll need to know and/or do on the day. 

If you’re hoping to secure a place at university, you’ll want to remind yourself ahead of results day what your current university offers are - you can find this information on your UCAS Hub. 

Depending on the type of offer you’ve received, you’ll then know the grades you’re expected to achieve in order to go to your chosen university. 

It’s worth noting that there may sometimes be wiggle room here depending on the competitiveness of the course and its capacity, so if you don’t quite meet the grades outlined within your university offer, don’t rule it out immediately. 

University offers explained

University offers will be categorised as one of the following on UCAS: 

• Unconditional

• Conditional

• Unconditional changed course

• Clearing

Unconditional offer

If you’ve already received an unconditional offer, this means your A Level grades won’t impact whether or not you’ve secured a place on your specified course at your chosen university - you’ve essentially already been accepted onto the course. 

Conditional offer

If you’ve received a conditional offer, you’ll see the grades required to secure a place on your course. 

Unconditional changed course offer

On results day, you’ll be able to see whether you’ve met these requirements and been offered a place, however if you didn’t quite meet the conditions, you may receive an ‘unconditional changed course’ offer instead. This means you've been offered a place for a different course at your firm choice university rather than the course you initially applied for. 

If you see this - don’t panic! You can either accept or decline this offer and check out whether your insurance choice has offered you a place on the course you applied for first. 

If both your firm and insurance choices have offered you a place on an alternative course and you don’t wish to accept, you can instead go through clearing - which takes us to our final offer category. 

What is UCAS clearing?

Clearing is the name given to the process in which universities and colleges fill any remaining places they may have on their courses. It can be a great way for those who didn’t receive their expected A Level results to still secure a place on a course they’d like to pursue. 

Familiarising yourself with the clearing process ahead of A Level results day is always a good idea - even in what you may see as a worst case scenario, you can still have an excellent outcome and find a university course to suit you. 

Check out our guide to clearing to find out more! 

Other ways to prepare for A Level results day

Finally, some other quick and easy things you can do to prepare for A Level results day include:

• Find out when your college or sixth form will be open for students to collect their results and certificates 

• If you know you’re not going to be able to collect your results on the day, you can either arrange for somebody else to collect them for you (although they’ll need to sign a permission slip to prove you want them to do this on your behalf) or you can request to have them posted out to you

• Get the contact details of your firm and insurance choice universities in the event that you need to contact them about your offers

How to get rid of A Level results day nerves

If the nerves are getting to be too much to bear, there are a few things you can do to help calm your mind and put things into perspective (and also a few things we just KNOW will help!)

We might not be able to magically rid you of your nerves completely, but there are definitely a few tried-and-tested things you can do to help… 

1. Talk about your worries 

You’ve probably heard this one before, but opening up to someone about what’s on your mind and what exactly you’re worried about can really help to offload some of that stress. 

As we all know, a problem shared is a problem halved! 

According to a study led by Sarah Townsend, an assistant professor at USC Marshall School of Business, it is the specific interaction with a person who genuinely understands your emotion and response, and ideally is also experiencing it at the same time, that will provide measurable relief from stress.

Yes! Talking and conversing can actually reduce stress, and help you analyse your worries out in the open, perhaps helping you to take a step back from it all and see the bigger picture of what's causing your brain to spin out of control.

2. Keep yourself occupied

Take the focus away from your own worries by binge-watching or reading your favourite shows and stories - whatever it takes to get your head into another character's world.

From fighting demogorgons to protecting the world from super villains, take the time to be distracted by the things you love and that allow you to be absorbed in someone else's life.

3. Don’t compare your own results to other people’s results 

If you think meeting up with your friends on results day and all gathering round to open your envelopes and tackle the stress together is something you'd like to do, then that's understandable.

But what's not good for you is to compare your results so much to the people around you and let it beat you down.

You may be proud of your results - and you should be! If someone you know does get results you envy though, just remember that different factors such as stress, revision methods, teachers and class problems and situations at home can all impact the outcome of your grades.

4. Retail therapy

Finally, our personal favourite way to keep busy… Treat yourself!

This doesn’t have to mean splashing the cash, it can be something as simple as picking up your favourite sweet treat or a new pair of sunglasses for an upcoming holiday - whatever works for you. 

Either way, you deserve a little something to perk yourself up and congratulate yourself - you made it regardless of your results! A Levels are a super stressful time, but you’ve made it out the other side. That alone means you are more than deserving of a treat.

Remember, if you’re aged 16 or over and currently studying full or part-time in Further or Higher Education, you’ll be eligible for a TOTUM Student or Student+ membership which means getting to enjoy huge savings and discounts from 400+ brands including Apple, ASOS, Sephora, Cult Beauty and more… 

Bear this in mind whilst shopping for your results day treat and bag yourself a bargain! 

What to do on A Level results day 2023

So, now that you’re fully prepared - what do you need to do on the actual day?

Well, as mentioned, you can either log onto the UCAS Track website from 8am to find out whether you’ve secured a place at either your firm or insurance choice university, or you can wait to collect your results in person first. 

It’s worth noting that your A Level grades won’t be published on UCAS - you’ll have to get these from your college or sixth form. 

Once you’ve collected your results and established whether you’ve received an offer, you’ll then want to act accordingly. 

What if I don’t get the A Level results I need?

If you didn’t get the results you were hoping for and haven’t received an unconditional offer to study on your chosen course, don’t worry! In 2022, a total of 33,280 students secured their university places through UCAS Clearing - it’s definitely not the end of the world if you have to go through this process. 

If you have your heart set on studying at one particular university however, you have a few options. 

You can consider resitting your A Level exams in the autumn and if you end up achieving the required grades, you may be able to join your chosen course in January instead depending on the university’s start dates. 

Otherwise, you should be able to start the course in September 2024 instead!

Check out our blog on why missing your predicted grades isn't such a bad thing...

How to save money as a student with TOTUM 

So, there we have it - your complete guide to A Level results day 2023!

But A Level results aren’t the only thing we’re here to help with… 

We offer tips, advice and guidance on everything from applying for student finance to whether students need to pay council tax or get a TV licence. Check out TOTUM Talks to stay in the loop! 

We’re here for you throughout your studies years, helping you to make huge savings with your TOTUM discount so that you can make your money go as far as possible. 

Join TOTUM Student for FREE to access hundreds of student discounts on big-name brands like ASOS, Apple, Myprotein, boohoo, Samsung, and more!

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