Thousands of students are opening their A-Level results this morning and start the annual scramble for university places.

But this year the coronavirus pandemic has changed everything. Students - who couldn't sit exams because of school closures - have been given marks calculated by a statistical model.

Initial figures from Ucas, show that the number of students accepted onto UK degree courses has risen by 2.9 per cent - up to 358,860 this year.

The number of 18-year-olds taking up places has risen to 30.2 per cent, despite a 1.5 per cent drop in the population of this age group in the UK.

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