Buckingham Palace has confirmed that James, Earl of Wessex, will attend the Royal Agricultural University in September after achieving the required grades in his A-Level results. The 18-year-old royal, son of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, was among thousands of students receiving their results on Thursday, following exams taken in May and June.
University Plans Confirmed
In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: "Having achieved the grades he needed, The Earl of Wessex will be going to the Royal Agricultural University to study Rural Land & Property Management. He will head straight there without taking a year out."
James' exact results have not been published, but the entry requirements for his chosen course were a minimum of 104 UCAS points across three A Levels, equivalent to grades B, C, C. He studied at Radley College, an independent boarding school in Oxfordshire, and spent the summer working as a farmhand on the Sandringham Estate.
Royal Family Context
His sister, Lady Louise, also took a summer job after finishing school before attending university. She graduated from St Andrew's University this summer and has decided to take a gap year before settling into employment.
Their parents, who chose not to give them royal titles as children, raised James and Louise with the expectation that they would need to get jobs and earn a living. Neither has opted to use HRH titles as adults, living private lives and joining the Royal Family only at events like Christmas, Easter, and Trooping the Colour.
National A-Level Results
The proportion of A-level entries awarded top grades has risen for the third consecutive year, driven partly by the popularity of maths and high scores in that subject. Hundreds of thousands of teenagers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland received their results, determining progression to university, apprenticeships, or work.
The total number of A-level entries surpassed 900,000 for the first time, as the population of 18-year-olds increased. More than a quarter (28.5%) of UK entries were awarded an A or A* grade, up 0.2 percentage points from 28.3% last year. The proportion of top A* grades also rose to 9.6%, compared to 9.4% in 2025 and 7.7% in 2019.
