Students on standby for A-level results

Thousands of teenagers will face a nail-biting moment when they open their A-level results tomorrow. And many teenagers from across north London will find out if they have scored the right grades to secure a place at their chosen university. UCS student J

THOUSANDS of 18-year-olds will face a nail-biting moment when they open their A-level results today.

And many teenagers from across north London will find out if they have scored the right grades to secure a place at their chosen university.

UCS student Jonny Mills, 18, of West Hampstead, told the Ham&High on Tuesday: "There's a general feeling of angst and dread among my friends. It's the uncertainty and how quickly everything happens. If things go wrong you only have a few days to sort it out."

The competition to win a place at university is even tougher this year after an 11.6 per cent increase in the number of school leavers applying for undergraduate courses. In 2009, 592,312 people applied to university compared to 660,953 in June this year.

For the first time, a new A* grade will be used to differentiate the best students.

A total of 34,845 applicants have applied for just 3,352 places on undergraduate courses at University College London (UCL), so the A* grade could make all the difference.

A UCL spokeswoman said: "Competition for places is more intense and tutors are struggling to differentiate, hence the introduction of the A* grade."

Read the results as they arrive at www.hamhigh.co.uk