Thousands of anxious A-Level students will receive their results today, helping to form their plans for after school – whether that be university or otherwise.
It’s an anxiety which much of the UK has experienced at one point in their life – including the royal family.
It was nearly 25 years ago that Prince William received his A-Level results, securing his place at the University of St Andrews.
Some of the royal family opted to take more GCSEs than A-Levels, but nearly all of the royals attended university afterwards – even as some didn’t score particularly well.
Prince William
After attending a preparatory school in Berkshire for five years, Prince William went on to attend the esteemed Eton College in 1995.
He left in 2000 with 12 GCSES and three A-Levels: an A in Geography, B in Art and C in Biology.
Wills didn’t head straight to university, however – he took a gap year and headed to Belize and Chile with Raleigh International.
In 2001, he began university at St Andrews, where he studied art history and later changed to geography.
Prince Harry
Prince Harry did 11 GCSEs and two A-Levels, having also attended Eton College.
He earned a B in Art and a D in Geography, before going to join the Army shortly after finishing his studies.
King Charles
Prince Charles had a more ‘traditional’ schooling, having attended Gordonstoun school, where he did five GCSEs (known then as O-levels), and two A-Levels.
He earned a B in History and a C in French, but was still able to go on to Cambridge University, where he studied anthropology, archaeology and history.
He later served in the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.
Princess Kate
Kate Middleton took on a whopping 11 GCSEs and three A-Levels when she attended Marlborough College in Wiltshire.
She finished her A-Levels in 2000, earning As in both Maths and Art and a B in English.
Like her future husband, she took a gap year in Chile with Raleigh International, having missed meeting William there by just a few weeks. Luckily, they met later while studying at St Andrews.
Kate went on to earn her degree in History of Art from St Andrew’s in 2005.
Princess Beatrice
Princess Beatrice took on nine GCSEs, earning two A*s. She also did three A-Levels – earning an A in Drama and Bs in History and Film Studies while she was a pupil at St George’s School in Ascot.
She later studied History and History of Ideas at Goldsmiths in London, where she graduated in 2011.
Princess Eugenie
Princess Eugenie’s A-Level results were so impressive that Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, sent out a statement to tell the world.
She earned two A*s in her GCSEs and As in Art, English Literature and a B in History of Art while attending Marlborough College in Wiltshire – the same as Princess Kate did.
Eugenie went onto university after finishing college, studying English Literature and History of Art and Politics at Newcastle University, where she graduated in 2012.
Princess Anne
Though her official marks haven’t ever been disclosed, Princess Anne took six GCSEs (then known as O-levels) and three A-Levels in English, History and Politics.
The Princess Royal didn’t go on to university after college. When asked about her decision, she said: ‘So many of my contemporaries, when asked why they were going to university, would say, “Well basically because that’s what you do.”‘
‘And I remember thinking really that doesn’t sound like a very good reason to go university, so I thought I would skip that.’
Logical as always.
Prince Edward
Prince Edward, like his brothers, attended Gordonstoun but took on a heavier academic load than his siblings.
He took nine GCSEs (O-Levels) and three A-Levels: a C in English, D in History and D in Politics.
Prince Edward went to Cambridge, where he studied History and graduated in 1986. He then went to serve in the Royal Marines.
Prince Andrew
Like his brother Charles, Andrew attended Gordonstoun, where he earned six GCSEs (O-levels) and A-Levels in English, History and Politics.
He also opted not to go to university, instead enrolling into Britannia Royal Naval College and later serving in the Falklands War.
Which Royal scored the highest?
Out of all the royals, Princess Eugenie and Princess Kate appear to have scored the highest overall on their A-Levels.
Princess Eugenie’s parents put out a statement when she received her marks, reading: ‘We are delighted by Eugenie’s achievements. She has worked extremely hard towards these justifiably fantastic results.’
She went on to graduate from Newcastle University with a 2:1 in English literature and History of Art.
Princess Kate beat her husband to become the top scoring Wales in her A-Levels.
She finished at St Andrew’s with a 2:1 Honors in Art History.
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