A level Results Day 2025: Students celebrate top grades and university destinations
Results Day has arrived and thousands of young people across the country are waking up to find out what they’ve achieved in their exams.
On Thursday 14 August, young people are finding out how they performed in their A levels, T levels, BTEC Nationals, and other Level 3 qualifications – and deciding on their next steps in education or work.
At The Access Project, we’re celebrating with our students as they discover their A level grades and their university destinations. Today, we’re sharing stories from some of our students who placed at university today.
A level Results Day 2025 at The Access Project
We caught up with students at Chelsea Academy in London and Ashfield School in the East Midlands as they reacted to their results and celebrated getting into university.
Zakaria – Business Management at Royal Holloway, University of London
From a young age, Zakaria had ambitions to attend university and find a stable, well-paying career. He’s the second person in his family to go to university, after his brother – who is studying Law at Exeter.
In Year 12, Zakaria’s attendance was poor, and he was achieving below his target grades. But now, he’s off to study Business Management at Royal Holloway, University of London, after picking up one A and two Bs in his A levels. “I really didn’t imagine this was possible”, Zakaria told us.
“In Year 12, I hardly attended a single lesson. But in Year 12, I started taking my studies a lot more seriously and I attended every session without fail. The Access Project has built me from the ground up. At first, I was getting a U in politics, and now I’ve just got an A.”
On results day, he had one word to describe his journey: comeback.
“A bigger comeback than Liverpool versus AC Milan. 3-1 down, and I’ve just won the championship.”
Nora – Human Sciences at University of Durham
Nora is one of many students considering their education options today. She’s got into Durham to study Human Sciences – but she’s got hopes of flying over to the United States at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Nora has big dreams of studying global health, pursuing her interests in sociology in biology.
“The Access Project made me so much more confident in lessons. I found myself putting my hand up to answer lots of questions, not just because I knew the content, but because I had a person I could talk to about any problems, and that gave me a lot of confidence”, she said.
Nora went above and beyond to maximise her chances of getting into university. She took part in summer schools and widening participations projects including The Sutton Trust programme, IntoScience, Sussex Medical School. She also received The Reading List Foundation Scholarship – a £275 grant that will pay for her first-year textbooks.
“Neither of my parents went to university but that didn’t stop them from pushing me.”
“I feel so motivated and excited about my next steps.”
Dena – Business Management at University of Law
Dena is celebrating with her twin sister. They’ve both smashed their A levels, and are heading to different universities this September. Dena has placed at the University of Law to study business management, with ambitions of running and growing her own business.
“I’m still figuring it all out”, she told us. “I love seeing businesses develop and people make progress. I don’t know what will happen, but I just really want to become a successful businesswoman.”
“In The Access Project, we had workshops. They were so helpful. If I didn’t have those, I wouldn’t have known anything about university. I was struggling to understand student finance but The Access Project helped me understand it.”
“I’m excited just to go to university. I’m nervous, but excited. I want to join societies and meet new people. We’re all coming from the same place, we’ve just gone through A levels, so I’m excited to meet new people.”
Reactions to Results Day
Linda Maguire is Director of Post-16 Education at Ashfield School in Kirkby in Ashfield, whose programme with us is generously supported by Magdalen College, Oxford.
Linda said: “A massive well done to our post-16 students who have achieved exceptional results today – the culmination of two years of hard work, determination and resilience.”
“These results are a true testament to the perseverance and dedication of all of our students and our teaching staff. Particular thanks to The Access Project who, across the two years, have supported a number of our students in achieving their outcomes at A level and, most importantly, their placements at top universities.”
James Flitcroft is Head of Careers at Chelsea Academy. He’s celebrating today with his students as he watches them blossom into young adults, ready to take their next steps.
“We have a really diverse student demographic. We’re in the wealthiest borough in the country, but we know that the indices of deprivation show that students in this borough face significant disadvantage”, James said. “Our Pupil Premium population is well over 40%, and English as an additional language — EAL — features quite significantly.”
“We collaborate with The Access Project because our resources are so finite. We can’t support these students alone, so The Access Project helps us personalise that support.”
James has been teaching at Chelsea Academy since 2019. He’s pleased to see top grades rise, and says that this year provides a perfect snapshot of student ambition at Chelsea.
“I love to see the transformation of these young people into young adults, because they’ve achieved something difficult. When they have that self knowledge that they can do, they can achieve, and they can overcome, that makes me really excited. I feel very optimistic for the future.”
The Access Project helps young people from under-resourced backgrounds achieve their academic potential and place at top universities. By giving to The Access Project, you’re helping the country’s most under-resourced young people find their way to a brighter future.