Scotland, which runs a separate qualifications system to the rest of the UK, published its exam results last Tuesday.

Pass rates rose at every level. Just over 79 per cent of National 5 entries passed, up from 78.4 per cent last year.

At Higher, the pass rate rose to almost 77 per cent, from 75.9 per cent, and at Advanced Higher it climbed to 77.6 per cent, from 76.7 per cent.

Top grades were more mixed. The share of pupils awarded an A rose to 40.3 per cent at National 5 and almost 21 per cent at Higher. But at Advanced Higher, the hardest and most specialised level, the proportion getting an A fell to 30.9 per cent.

National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher are taken in ascending order through the later years of Scottish secondary school – broadly equivalent to Years 11, 12 and 13 in England. National 5 is roughly comparable to GCSEs, while Higher is the standard qualification used for university entry in Scotland.

Advanced Higher, roughly equivalent to A-level, isn’t usually required for a Scottish university place, but is often expected for competitive courses such as medicine.

The Conservatives have called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to cap interest on Plan 2 student loans at inflation, timing the intervention to coincide with A-level results day.

The party wants all loans taken out by English undergraduates who started courses between 2012-13 and 2022-23 to be capped at the Retail Prices Index (RPI) of inflation, which is currently 3 per cent.

They claim this would mean a graduate with £40,000 of debt on a £50,000 salary would save £26,000 in lifetime repayments under the proposal, clearing their loan five years earlier.

The interest rate on Plan 2 student loans is currently 3.4 per cent, but is set to rise to 4.1 per cent from the start of September.

Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, said Labour had “destroyed the jobs market for young people” and called for fewer courses that leave students “saddled with debt and no job prospects.”

Neil O’Brien, shadow minister for policy development, said ministers “must act now to fix student debt.”

These changes will not apply to students in England starting university this year. That cohort will apply for a Plan 5 student loan, the interest for which is already linked to RPI inflation.

Hundreds of thousands of students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be getting their results for their A-level, T-level, and BTEC exams.

These will begin to be available from 8 am, when students will get them through their online school portals, email or in an envelope to be collected at their school or college.

For many young people, these results will decide whether or not they get a place at their chosen university.

The UCAS Hub portal will update sometime after 8 am confirming whether students have met their conditions for their first or second choice university.

Good morning and welcome to our coverage.

Students across the country will receive their A-Level results today.

The Department for Education estimates that close to 60,000 18-year-olds in England will not receive grades because they have dropped out of education and training.

Official data, released in May, showed the number of young people aged between 16 to 24, neither working or in training surpassed one million for the first time since 2013.

Ahead of results day, Education Secretary Lucy Powell said: “My priority is making sure every young person has the skills, knowledge, and confidence to thrive in the jobs of the future.

“That’s why we’re giving technical education the respect it deserves by rolling out new V Levels to go alongside A Levels, introducing brilliant routes into the careers of the future from age 14, and fully funding apprenticeship training for under-25s.”