Just over a quarter of GCSE entries in Wales this year attained the top grades of A/7 and above.
Overall outcomes are higher this year than in 2019 - the last time that students sat summer exams marked and graded by exam boards - but lower than last year, when schools graded pupils.
A total of 25.1 per cent of GCSE exams sat in Wales this year were graded A/7 or above, compared with 28.7 per cent last year when the exams were cancelled because of the pandemic, and 18.4 per cent in 2019 when external exams were last held.
In Wales, GCSEs are graded from A* to G, which is different to the 9-1 system used in England. However, a small number of candidates in Wales, mainly from the independent sector, sit the reformed GCSE exams that are graded 9-1.
In total this year, over two-thirds of entries (68.6 per cent) were awarded a C/4 grade or above. Last year, that figure was 73.6 per cent and in 2019 it was 62.8 per cent.
Other highlights from the Welsh GCSE results, which follow the publication of the A-level results last week, include:
- 311,072 total entries, down by 5.4 per cent from 2021
- Overall outcomes for female entries remain higher than for male entries
- No change from 2021 in rank order of the top 10 highest-entry subjects, except for art and design-related subjects, down from eighth to tenth
- Health and social care has the biggest increase of entries (up by 32.8 per cent)
- Growth in separate sciences continues with biology (+6.1 per cent), chemistry (+4.0 per cent) and physics (+4.2 per cent)
Exams adapted to mitigate Covid learning loss
GCSEs were adapted this year in Wales to give learners extra support and address the loss of teaching and learning time. Exams were also graded more generously to recognise that learners have had - as exam watchdog Qualifications Wales put it - “the most extraordinary two years leading up to their exams”.
Before the exams, the body said that results would be broadly midway between the results in 2019, when exams were last held, and the results in 2021, when teachers determined learners’ grades.
Qualification Wales chief executive Philip Blaker said today that learners had been anxious about the return to exams but that overall “the exam series has gone well”.
He thanked schools and colleges for their “hard work and dedication”.
Jeremy Miles, minister for education and the Welsh language, congratulated young people across Wales as they received their GCSE results - as well as their Welsh Baccalaureate and vocational qualification results.
Mr Myles said: “I welcome these results as we transition back to exams this year - it’s great to see what our learners have achieved.
“Don’t be too disappointed and don’t be too hard on yourself if things didn’t quite go to plan today. There are a range of options available to you, whether you’re unsure what to do next, or perhaps you didn’t sit your exams. Get in touch with Careers Wales or your school for support.
“Everyone under 25 has the opportunity to enrol in education or training, find work or become self-employed through our Young Person’s Guarantee. Take a look at Working Wales online to find out how to get involved.”
