James Wessex on Palace balcony for Jubilee in 2022

James, the Earl of Wessex, will be heading to the Royal Agricultural University in September having received the required grades in his A Levels. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh’s 18-year-old son was among the thousands of Britons to open their results this morning, having taken exams earlier in the year.

While his exact grades have not been published, Buckingham Palace confirmed that he would be heading to University in the autumn without taking a gap year. The entry requirements for his chosen course, Rural Land and Property Management, were a minimum of 104 UCAS points across three A Levels, the equivalent to grades B,C,C.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement: “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 Wessex has just received his A Level results (Image: Getty)

James studied at Radley College, an independent boarding school in Oxfordshire, and has spent the summer working on the Sandringham Estate. He has been working as a farmhand, working long hours driving tractors.

His sister, Lady Louise, similarly got a summer job before she headed to university after finishing school. She graduated from St Andrew’s University this summer and has decided to take a gap year before settling into employment.

Their parents, who decided against giving them royal titles when they were children, have raised James and Louise on the understanding that they would need to get jobs and earn a living.

Since both of them have turned adults, neither have opted to use HRH titles. Instead, they continue to live private lives away, only joining the Royal Family at set piece events such as Christmas, Easter and Trooping the Colour.

The proportion of A-level entries awarded top grades has risen for the third year in a row, likely driven by the popularity of maths and students scoring highly in it.

Hundreds of thousands of teenagers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their exam results on Thursday, with many finding out if they would progress to university, an apprenticeship or work.

The total number of A-level entries has topped 900,000 for the first time, with the population of 18-year-olds increasing this year.

More than a quarter (28.5%) of UK entries were awarded an A or A* grade, up by 0.2% percentage points on last year, when 28.3% achieved the top grades.

The proportion of UK entries awarded the top A* grade this year has also risen, by 0.2 percentage points to 9.6%, compared to 9.4% in 2025, and it is higher than when it stood at 7.7% in 2019.