How to find your A-Level results 2026

A-Level results day 2026 is Thursday 13 August. From around 8am, your results become available through three different channels. Your school or sixth form, the UCAS Hub website and app, and your exam board's results portal.

Each channel shows something slightly different and unlocks at a slightly different time. This guide explains what each one tells you, when it goes live, and what to do if your results are not showing up where you expect them.

One thing to know upfront. UCAS Hub does not show your individual grades on results day. It only confirms whether your offer has been met. To see the actual letters next to each subject, you need your school slip or your exam board portal.

School is still the standard way to find your results. Most sixth forms and schools open between 8am and 11am on results day, with collection in the main hall or reception.

You queue or sign in, hand over photo ID, and you are given an envelope with your results slip inside. The slip lists every subject you sat alongside your final grade. Some schools also print the universities you applied to and the offer status pulled from UCAS, but this varies.

If you can collect in person, it is often worth doing. Teachers and pastoral staff are on site, careers advisers are available, and you have immediate help if results are not what you hoped. UCAS Clearing conversations and near-miss calls to universities are typically easier when there is a teacher next to you who has done it before.

Most schools want to see photo ID before handing over results. A passport, driving licence, or school photo ID all count. Check with your school the day before to confirm what they accept. If you do not have any photo ID, contact the school in advance so they can sort an alternative.

Alongside ID, take your phone (fully charged), a pen, and a notebook. If you end up making Clearing calls, you will be writing down course codes, names and times during fast-moving conversations. A few notes on paper beats trying to remember everything later.

UCAS Hub is the place to confirm whether your university offer has been met. It updates automatically from around 8am as exam boards transmit grades to UCAS. By 8.30am, most students see a settled status against their firm and insurance choices.

There are three possible outcomes you will see. Your firm choice listed as unconditional means your place is confirmed at your first-choice university. Your insurance choice listed as unconditional (with firm shown as unsuccessful) means you have your insurance place but missed your firm. Both choices listed as unsuccessful means you have not been accepted at either, and a Clearing button will appear so you can search vacancies straight away.

Hub does not show your individual grades. That is a deliberate UCAS design. If you want to see your actual letters, wait for your school slip or check your exam board portal.

Each major exam board runs a results portal that lets students see their full grades online, including the breakdown of marks by paper or component where relevant. The portals are AQA's Results Online (typically accessed through the school's exams office), Pearson's Edexcel Online, OCR Interchange, and WJEC's secure portal.

Most exam board portals go live later in the day than school collection and UCAS Hub. Some open in late morning, others not until afternoon. Schools usually announce when their students will be able to log in. Do not panic if your portal is showing nothing at 8am. That is normal.

The portals are useful for two things. First, double-checking what is on your printed slip. Second, seeing the component-level breakdown if you want to understand exactly where marks were won or lost ahead of a possible remark request.

Sometimes the systems do not behave as expected. Here is what to do for each common problem.

UCAS Hub still shows your offer as conditional after 10am. This usually means the university has not yet finalised your decision rather than a UCAS system error. Call the admissions office directly. They will have a results-day line open and they expect calls.

Your school slip is missing a subject. Speak to your school's exams officer on the day. Sometimes a grade has not been transmitted from the exam board yet and will arrive within a few hours.

Your exam board portal will not let you log in. Contact your school's exams office. Logins are usually managed through the school, not directly with the board, and the school can re-issue credentials or check the portal on your behalf.

Most schools open specifically for results day, even during summer holidays, though a few do not. If your school will not be open on 13 August, contact them at least a week in advance to agree how you will get your results.

The usual options are to nominate someone to collect on your behalf (they will need a signed letter from you and their own photo ID), to have your results posted to a UK address, or to have them emailed. Some schools offer a phone call where a teacher reads your grades out and follows up by email.

Whatever the arrangement, do not rely on UCAS Hub alone. Hub confirms your offer status but not your individual grades, and universities will sometimes ask you for the exact grades during Clearing conversations. Have access to your full results before you start calling anyone.

If you are abroad on results day, you can still check UCAS Hub from anywhere with internet access. Time zones do not matter to Hub. It releases your offer status at 8am UK time regardless of where you are.

For your full grades, you have two main options. Ask your school to email a scan of your results slip, or log in to your exam board portal once it goes live. If you are calling universities about Clearing or near-miss decisions, an internet phone service like WhatsApp or a UK SIM avoids large call charges from abroad.

Be aware that Clearing tends to move quickly. Many popular courses fill within 24 to 48 hours of results being released, so do not delay your Clearing calls just because you are in a different time zone.