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Around 300,000 students will discover their A-levels results on Thursday amid predictions of a fall in top grades, changing exam conditions, and tougher subjects.
The nerves of sixth formers and their families have also been stretched by exam regulator Ofqual's suggestions of greater "volatility" in this year's results.
Experts say that after two years of falls in the number of the highest A and A* grades being awarded, a third consecutive year is expected.
Overall the total number of students entering for A-levels is lower than previous years, because of a fall in the number of 17 and 18 year olds within the population as a whole.
Tina Issacs, head of educational assessment at the University of London's Institute of Education and a former head of 14-19-years regulation at Ofqual, said, however, that she didn't accept the well-publicised predictions of volatility.
"I am expecting the outcome to be relatively calm. For A-levels, yes there have been changes but I think people have over-interpreted the word volatility. It might have been a better idea if Ofqual had used a less emotive word," Issacs said.
"There will be changes, there's no question about that. But because Ofqual has been using a technique known as 'comparable outomes' for the last few years, so that theoretically all things being equal, a student who would have got an A last year would be getting an A grade this year."
Ofqual achieves comparable outcomes through complex calculations based on "prior attainment" of a year-group, taking previous key stage and GCSE results to gauge the relative ability of each year's cohort of students and allowing it to adjust individual subject grade boundaries in response.
If an overall year group is thought to be less able than previous years – as this year's is thought to be – then moving grade boundaries can avoid over-achievement by an otherwise average student.
Issacs said that while the national picture might remain stable, with only slight declines or rises in overall, the approach by schools could see their results change more dramatically. Schools that made heavy use of re-sits could see a different set of results now those opportunities have disappeared, with the phasing-out of the January exam season.
"There might be flux at the individual student level and perhaps at the individual school level, depending in the tactics they have used in the past. But I don't think there will be much flux across the cohort – although results could prove me wrong," Issacs said.
Nansi Ellis, a policy officer at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers union, said the results would reveal what the impact of the removal of January exams has had, and whether students were being disadvantaged.
"This change will have put students under a lot more pressure, as January exams gave them the chance to complete part of their course and track their progress. It has been introduced with no trialling and has put increased pressure on a system that is already creaking," Ellis said.
Any marked changes in the grades could make life more difficult for universities looking to recruit those receiving their A levels. Although the proportion of sixth formers going to university continues to increase, the shrinking number of 17 and 18 year olds combined with the rapid expansion by universities means that many still have places to fill – including members of the Russell Group of leading research universities.
"Some Russell Group universities may still have places available in some subjects for students who have done better than expected. There may also be places available for highly-qualified students who have narrowly missed out on their first choice," said Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group.
Interviews with university admissions officers found that they were making a greater proportion of unconditional offers to applicants, to lock-in qualified students. The officers also said they wanted to avoid making offers through the system of clearing, which matches students still in search of a place with insitutions that have vacancies.
Pam Tatlow, chief executive of the university think-tank million+, cautioned: "A-levels are not the only story. The majority of students enter university with a vocational qualification, and a third of students start a university course when they are over 21."
Rebecca Westrup, lecturer in education at the University of East Anglia's school of education, said the annual public controversy around A-level grades had an impact on students themselves.
"It could be demoralising in the sense that students will have worked really hard, and the majority still won't get A* and As," Westrup said.
"Society quite rightly places a lot of emphasis on A-levels. But for those who don't do as well, it can become a self-fulfilling prophesy for their future in education."
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