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

The provisional A level results for Wales show an improvement overall with 8.7 per cent of grades awarded at A*, the best outcome in Wales since this grade was introduced in 2010, 0.4 percentage points higher than the previous best figure last year.

She said: “Today is the culmination of a lot of hard work from our students and I want to congratulate them, as well as our fantastic teachers and lecturers, on these results.

“We’re seeing a very positive and stable set of results, with some very encouraging signs of progress as we continue on our journey of education reform.

“I’m very pleased that the number of students achieving A*-A has reached 26.3 per cent - this is a 1.3 per cent increase from last year and is an historic high for Wales.

“It’s also particularly pleasing to see an increase in the number of students taking STEM subjects. This is the continuation of a trend we’ve seen in recent years.

“Welsh Baccalaureate advanced level pass rates are also up which is excellent news – this is a valued qualification accepted by a growing number of prestigious universities across the UK."

Kirsty Williams added: “These are all very good reasons why we should remain confident in our reformed system of qualifications.

"We are providing students with the skills and knowledge they need for the modern world and our challenge now is to build on the results as we continue our national mission to raise standards for all our young people.”

A total of 76.3 per cent gained A* to C, the highest since 2009.

Meanwhile, 26.3 per cent achieving A*-A, a historic high.