Wales achieves best result for A* grades in the UK

  • Wales
Credit: PA Images

A-level and AS results show a rise in top grades in Wales.

Wales has achieved the best results for A*, 0.7 percentage points higher than the UK.

The percentage of A* grades achieved in Wales is the highest since they were introduced, in 2010.

The proportion of results awarded A* - A grades this year is 26.3%, which is 1.3 percentage points higher than the figure for 2017.

There are also improvements in results at grades B and C.

But the percentage of students achieving A* - E grades is 97.4%, which is lower than last year (97.7%).

The number of A-level examination entries in Wales this year was 2.6% lower than last year. It has been decreasing since 2015, in line with the reduction in size of the 18-year old population.

Credit: PA Images

In Wales, male students have performed marginally better than female students at A and A* grades, with 26.6% of men’s results and 26.0% of females’ results being at grades A* - A. But women have outperformed men at other grades.

The gap continues to be widest at grade C, with women being 5.4 percentage points ahead of men.

Education Secretary Kirsty Williams has congratulated students today

Education Secretary Kirsty Williams has congratulated students receiving their A-level and Welsh Baccalaureate results today.

  • AS Results

  • Trends in Subject Entries

There has been an increase in entries for Business, with 296 additional entries but less students sat exams in English Literature, Geography and History.

Less students took exams in modern languages including French, German and Spanish.

There has been an increase in entries for Welsh 1st Language at AS and A level but entries for Welsh 2nd Language has declined.

Mathematics is still the most popular A level and AS subject with 3,950 and 4,767 entries respectively.