Students across Northern Ireland today faced a major scramble for university places as A-level grades were issued to thousands of anxious young people.

The pass rate has increased for the 27th year in a row to 98.4% — although there has been a decrease in the percentage of entries awarded the top A grade.

Over 31,000 grades were issued this morning and the Council for the Curriculum Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) has confirmed that students here have once again outperformed their counterparts in England and Wales.

However, there has been a sharp rise in the number of Northern Ireland school leavers seeking a place in university. According to Employment and Learning Minister Sir Reg Empey, university applications are up 7% this year.

This is a significant increase given that half of school leavers here already go to university — more than in the rest of the UK.

Just 22,000 places in the UK are expected to be on offer in Clearing, the process of matching applicants to vacant courses.

Anthony McClaran, chief executive of the university admissions service UCAS, warned that candidates hoping to use the Clearing process will need to move swiftly.

But Mike Smyth, senior lecturer in economics at the University of Ulster, said today that the skills required for study at university are no longer to be found in a sizable proportion of A-level students.

Writing in the Telegraph, he said: ”For some years now universities have had to devote more and more resources to the development of study skills, personal development and remedial teaching in order to bring students up to the requisite standards.”

However, Anne Marie Duffy, director of qualification at CCEA, said: “I don’t believe that A-levels have become easier and I’m sure that teachers and students involved in this year’s examinations would agree.”

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