66.6% of Welsh GCSE students achieve A*- C grades

Credit: PA

Welsh students have received their GCSE results this morning, with 66.6% achieving A*- C grades - the same percentage as the previous two years.

The overall pass rate (pupils achieving grades A* - G), also remained the same at 98.7%.

There were small increases in the number of students achieving A* and A grades; 0.1 and 0.2 % respectively, but some subjects like English, Science and Welsh saw a fall in grades.

OVERVIEW

  • The proportion of A* - A has increased by 0.2 percentage points compared to last year

  • There has been an increase in A* grades, which have gone up by 0.1% to 6.1%

  • More than 14,000 learners were awarded a Welsh Baccalaureate Diploma

  • Maths results for the full year 2015-16 show improvements across all graded with A*- C pass rates now at 65.5%.

Credit: PA

ENGLISH

Passes at A*- C grades in English Language fell from 64% to 62.6%, reversing the improvement seen last year.

WELSH FIRST LANGUAGE

Results have remained stable for students achieving A*-C grades in Welsh first language courses - 73.5% compared with 73.9% last year.

The number of pupils gaining A* in Welsh though has dropped by half a percent.

WELSH SECOND LANGUAGE

A similar result to last year for those sitting Welsh second language exams, with 79.3% achieving A*-C, the overall pass rate was 99.5%.

MATHEMATICS

Maths results in Wales remained at a similar level to last year, with 47.7% of students achieving A*-C. Exam boards say the number of 16-year-olds being entered to take GCSE Mathematics has also increased.

SCIENCES

This summer saw a considerable fall in outcomes for GCSE Science - from 57.5% last year to 50.6% of students achieving A*-C.

Exam boards say this could be down to an extra 4,000 candidates taking the course.

The overall pass rate for this year was 97.1%.

MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Outcomes in modern foreign languages were generally weaker than in previous years, but improved at A*-B and A*-C for French.

In German and Spanish the number achieving top grades also fell, but 70% of candidates in all subjects achieved A*-C grades.