A-Level results: Students across Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire receive record high grades

The proportion of A-level entries awarded an A grade or higher has risen to an all-time high across the region after exams were cancelled for the second year in a row due to the pandemic.

Grades have been decided by teachers' estimates, which are based on pieces of work and mock exams over the past year, rather than an algorithm.

Yorkshire A-Level students have had a 98.4 percent pass rate for their A-Levels, putting the region third in the whole of England.

About a quarter of pupils in Yorkshire got an A or A* grade in their non-exams results, which is up 2.2 percent from last year.

• Students at John Leggott Sixth Form in Scunthorpe

Nationally, girls performed better than boys at the top grades, and female maths students overtook boys for the first time in the number of A* grades achieved, figures for England, Wales and Northern Ireland show.

In total, more than two in five (44.8%) of UK entries were awarded an A or A* grade this summer - up by 6.3 percentage points on last year when 38.5% achieved the top grades.

Overall, the proportion of entries awarded the top A* grade this year has surged to 19.1% - the highest proportion since the top grade was first introduced in 2010.

This year, teachers in England submitted their decisions on pupils' grades after drawing on a range of evidence, including mock exams, coursework and in-class assessments using questions by exam boards.

Principal of Scarborough Sixth Form College, Phil Rumsey said this means the grades are as accurate as they could be under the circumstances.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, who was a former student of the college, said today that under the circumstances of the past two years students should be celebrating grades they have worked incredibly hard for.

However, Phil Rumsey added Williamson's decision to use an algorithm last year was "a shambles."

"This year has been a lot better because evidence was needed to prove those grades were accurate."

Ofqual said that student work from 1,101 centres in England - around one in five schools and colleges - was scrutinised by exam boards.

For 85% of the schools and colleges whose students' work was scrutinised as part of QA checks, the regulator said the subject experts were satisfied that the evidence supported the teacher-assessed grades that were submitted.