It will be tears or cheers for thousands of teenagers in Hertfordshire who will find out whether they made the grade in their A Levels.

They will be among 300,000 young people nationally who are picking up their grades – for some success will mean a place at their chosen university, apprenticeship or training program.

While for others disappointing grades will spell a nervous couple of days as they seek to secure a university place through clearing.

Last summer, the proportion of A Levels scoring at least an A grade fell for the first time in more than 20 years.

More than half of UK A Level students are expected to opt to go on to university.

Under a coalition plan A Levels are set to change from 2015 meaning the AS Level will no longer count towards the final A Level grade and all exams will be taken at the end of two years.