It is D-Day for thousands of A-level students in Suffolk and Essex who will be hoping for good news when they finally receive their results this morning.

While there will be scenes of celebration in schools and colleges, education chiefs last night reminded those who do not get their desired grades that there are still many options and courses open to them.

The first few results from east Suffolk schools emerged early this morning. While some schools were celebrating a pass rate rise, it remained too early to establish any trends in the county.

For students hoping to go to university, they are now advised to initially contact their chosen institution to see if they can still enrol on their course.

After that, they will be able to go through the clearing process, which will involve searching for courses at universities where there are still spaces available.

Polly Bridgman, director of external relations at University Campus Suffolk, said: “If they don’t get the grades for university, see if they will accept them before they phone anywhere else.

“If they don’t get their first choice it is upsetting, but it is not the end of the road. Universities will have places available.

“There are also a lot of students who might not have been interested about university and they get good grades and think what am I going to do?

“It is not too late, pick up the phone and talk to us, lots of universities take late students.”

To cope with the expected surge in calls, the university will be putting extra staff on the phones ready to talk to people about courses available at the site and there will be an open day on Saturday.

There is also a county council website, www.thesource.me.uk, which pulls together information on jobs, careers, further learning and what to do after A-levels.

The first results reported today were from schools and colleges in east Suffolk.

At Suffolk New College, 58% of all students’ results were graded A*-C, with an overall 96% pass rate.

Principal, Professor Dave Muller, said: “It is great to see our students achieving once again the good grades that they have worked so hard for. The results this year are a great reflection of the efforts and commitment made by our students and staff working together. I would like to thank everyone for their determination and congratulate our students, wishing them all the best for the future.”

At Northgate High School in Ipswich, 286 pupils sat the exams with 81% of grades at A*-C, and 99% at A*-E.

Headteacher David Hutton said: “I am delighted to report genuine success at Northgate Sixth Form; pass rates are up, points per student are up, the number of our students achieving 3 or 4 strong A Level grades is up. Congratulations to all Northgate students and good luck for the future”.

At Ipswich School, 88.9% of grades were A*-C, and 99.1% A*-E. Nearly 20% of students got at least three A grades or above.

Headmaster Nicholas Weaver said: “I would like to congratulate our students on their A-level results – they recognise the effort put in by these young people over the last two years, and the parents and staff who have supported them. I am pleased that our results have held up, in a year which has seen the start of major on-going reforms to the A-level exam process.”

For more information about clearing at UCS, call 01473 338352 or visit ucs.ac.uk/clearing

For full coverage of A-level results day in Suffolk and Essex, visit our results page here