On August 18, more than 300,000 pupils from England, Wales and Northern Ireland collected their A-level results. 

Here are some of the key findings and statistics from results day 2016:

• The proportion of A* and A grades was 25.8%, down by 0.1% on last year. The pass rate of 98.1% remained the same.
• According to official figures, the gap between boys and girls achieving the top A* grades narrowed this year, with male students gaining 8.5% of top A* grades compared with 7.7% for females. 
• In Wales there was a particularly big drop in A* grades, from 7.3% to 6.6%, including a fall of more than 1% among boys, from 7.8% to 6.7%.
• A record number of A-level students – 424,000 – have achieved a place at university, up 3% from last year, according to Ucas.
• The number of EU students placed in UK universities rose to 26,800 – an increase of 11% and the highest figure on record, despite fears that Brexit might deter students from applying.
• Education experts have raised concerns about the falling number of students taking creative subjects and modern languages. Entries to languages are down, with the number taking French falling by 6%. Malcolm Trobe, leader of the ASCL head teachers' union, warned that this could reflect funding pressures and that schools could not afford subjects with small numbers of pupils.
• Maths was the most popular subject for the second year in a row, ahead of English, and greater numbers took further maths. Psychology continues to grow in popularity behind biology in third place.
• Queen Elizabeth's School in Hertfordshire has once again topped the league tables as the best performing school for A-levels. The north London boys' grammar school, founded in 1573, recorded a rate of 98.84 per cent of grades at A* to B, an increase on last year's results. 
• Students starting at England's universities in the autumn could face higher fees than the previous cap of £9,000 before they finish.