GCSE grades fall for second year

It's been a day of celebration, relief and for some disappointment across the west today, as students got their GCSE results.

Nationally the number of top grades has fallen for a second year - but here there have plenty of success stories.

Karen Griggs has been to one school in Bristol to see how the students there got on:

An impressive 43 A* and 44 A grades have been notched up by six sets of twins who attend the same school.

The siblings are all in the same year group at St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School in Bristol, where results shot up by six per cent.

Dorothy and Florence Hislop, 16, scored 13 A*, six As and one B between them.

Dorothy, who gained seven A*s, two As and one B, said: "We were so nervous, everyone kept saying the grades were slipping, so today was a surprise. I am really happy with my results."

Read: What next after your GCSE results?

Employers and Chambers of Commerce in the West Country said there was a big gap between education and employment that needs to be addressed to give young people the chance to find jobs when they leave school.

Romily Simmons who attends Queen's College in Taunton received her GCSE results by phone.

That is because the 16 year old is in Ireland competing at the Young Rider Championships.

GCSE grades have fallen for a second consecutive year, with a drop in the proportion of entries scoring at least a C in English, maths and science.

• In English, 63.6% of entries gained a C or higher, down from 64.1% last summer.

• In maths, 57.6% of entries scored an A*-C grade, compared to 58.4% in 2012.

• In Science, there has been a 7.6% fall in the proportion of entries awarded a C grade or higher.

The drop in English comes amid a rise in the number of younger students taking the GCSE exams, the Joint Council for Qualifications said.

The fall in Science follows a move by Ofqual to toughen up the qualifications after a 2009 report by the regulator found that the courses were too easy.

Exam boards have criticised the rise in the number of 15-year-olds taking GCSE exams, with 91,000 children sitting the tests a year early.

Read: What next after your GCSE results?

The overall GCSE A*-G pass rate also fell slightly this year to 98.8% compared to 99% last year.