GCSEs: More achieve grade C or above but top grades fall

The proportion of GCSEs awarded at least a C grade has risen again this year, but top grades have fallen for the fourth year in a row, according to official figures.

They also reveal:

• In total, almost seven in 10 (69%) entries were awarded A*-C, up 0.2 percentage points on 2014.
• There was a 0.1% point drop in A* grades - the fourth year running that there has been a fall - with 6.6% of entries given the highest mark this year.
• 73.1% of girls' entries awarded at least a C grade, compared to 64.7% of boys'.
• The numbers of students taking languages at GCSE has fallen.Entries for French were down 6.2%, German entries were down 9.2% and Spanish down 2.4%. But grades for languages have improved.

• Read: GCSE results: What you can do next