Students across Liverpool and Merseyside are discovering today (Thursday, August 13) if they achieved their desired grades as A-Level results are officially released. This August carries on a long-standing tradition as students, following months of dedicated study, leave their college or sixth form gates for the very last time.
As a new generation from the region prepares to head off to university, apprenticeships, or fresh careers, we have explored the archives to bring you photos from Merseyside A-Level results days from over the years. These photographs, courtesy of Mirrorpix and ECHO photographers, show different cohorts across Merseyside from down the decades.
From 1989 to 2025
The collection spans more than three decades, starting with 18-year-old Paul Brabin in 1989, who worked as a part-time barman at the Grapes Hotel in Prescot. He scored straight A grades in five A-Levels, adding to his 11 previous A grade O-Levels, and was heading to Girton College, Cambridge.
In 1992, students from The Blue Coat School who passed their A-Levels at top grades were pictured, with the head teacher Mr Speller at the back. The pupils shown had four or more A-Levels at A grades.
Celebrations and milestones
The archive includes images from Knowsley College in 1994, where pupils collected their envelopes from reception, joined by assistant principal Frank Gill. In 1996, a group of Merseyside students including Clive Wellsteed, Jeremy Ramone, Louise Overend, Ben Chan, Damion Murphy and Michael Miller all achieved outstanding results.
In 2017, student Mahyar Kolivand, aged 17, from the city centre but originally from Iran, celebrated his A* in Maths at The City of Liverpool College. The same year, students including Cameron Swift, Callum Altham, Keisha Brady, Adam Carr, Lydia Hornby, Callum Barnet and James Cross celebrated their results.
Recent years
More recent photos show Marcia Bakker opening her results at Hugh Baird College in 2019, achieving A A D*. In 2024, Mohamad Jouma, aged 18, celebrated at Birkenhead Sixth Form College with his brother Abdou, a doctor at Arrowe Park Hospital, and parents Naheedah and Oma. The most recent images are from The Blue Coat School in 2025.
