Many will want to get advice from their teachers and to celebrate with or console friends
More than 26,000 students will receive their A-level and AS-level results in Northern Ireland on Thursday.
Northern Ireland pupils are again expected to be awarded more top grades than their peers in England and Wales.
In 2025, more than 30% of entries in Northern Ireland received A* or A grades at A-level, and results in 2026 are expected to be broadly similar.
Scotland has a separate system of qualifications.
Many students can pick up their A and AS-level results online from 08:00 BST on Thursday, but some will still go to their school to receive their results in person.
Students will also receive results of some BTEC qualifications on Thursday.
The vast majority of A-level and AS-level qualifications are taken through the Northern Ireland exams board CCEA, though some students will also receive grades from English and Welsh exam boards.
Many will also want to get advice from their teachers and to celebrate with or console friends.
Students will use their AS, A-level and BTEC results to apply to university or Further Education (FE) colleges, begin an apprenticeship or seek work.
There are big changes on the way for qualifications in Northern Ireland, though they will not affect students currently taking AS or A-level courses.
From 2029, there will be a new two-year modular A-level with three separate topics or exams.
Once the new A-level is introduced in 2029, CCEA will no longer offer a separate AS-level qualification.
The changes are part of wider reform of education, called TransformED, introduced by the Education Minister Paul Givan.
According to the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), there has been a slight fall in the proportion of young people in Northern Ireland who have applied to go to university in recent years.
