A record proportion of GCSE entries were awarded the top grades in this year’s exams, results show.

More than one in five entries (21.6%) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were awarded an A or A* - up from 20.7% last year.

And more than two in three (67.1%) of total GCSE entries scored between an A* and a C grade.

Nearly one in four entries from girls (24.4%) were awarded an A or A*, compared with 18.7% of boys’ entries.

In 2008 23.5% of girls’ entries were awarded As or A*s compared to 17.9% of boys’ entries.

This represents a slight widening of the achievement gap between girls and boys at the highest grades.

However, when grades A* to C are taken as a whole for all subjects, boys slightly narrowed the gap with girls.

Topics