Teenagers across England are celebrating more record successes at GCSE - and experts predicted that pass rates will go on getting higher and higher.
But new figures out today also revealed that the Government must do better after missing key targets on English and maths at primary school level.
GCSE pass rates continued to rise in this year’s exams, although the rate of improvement did not reach last year’s levels.
Among those celebrating were twins, Kirsty and Teresa Griffiths, pupils at St Edmunds school in Wolverhampton (pictured), who achieved 15 A* or A grades between them.The delighted Wolverhampton pair were two of the thousands of teenagers across the Black Country and Staffordshire collecting their GCSE results this morning.
It was a proud day for the region as dozens of schools reported improving results amid warnings those who leave school without five good GCSE passes will make themselves “unemployable”.
Kirsty said having a twin to help with a revision was a big boost but did produce a friendly rivalry. “We read through stuff and test each other.” she said.
There was good news for employers, who have complained that students are leaving school without knowing the basics, with more young people getting higher grades at Maths and English.
Girls continue to outstrip boys, as they do at A-level, but the yawning gap of between two and eight per cent at A*-C, closed marginally by 0.1 per cent.
Nearly six million students took GCSEs this year with Science, Maths, English, English Literature and Design and Technology the most popular subjects.
Passes at the top two A* and A grades were up 0.7 per cent to 19.1 per cent; and at A*-C by 1.2 per cent to 62.4 per cent. There was an overall increase of 0.3 per cent at A*-G, meaning that 98.1 per cent of entrants got technical passes.
The Joint Council for Qualifications was keen to emphasise the better performance at A*-C in Maths (up 0.9 to 54.3 per cent) and English (up 0.7 to 61.6 per cent). But there was concern over another slump in the numbers taking foreign languages - particularly German and French.
But at primary school level, new figures today showed ministers have missed their key targets. The Government had aimed to get 85 per cent of 11-year-olds in England up to the level expected by this year.
But results for national curriculum tests showed the targets had been missed by a considerable margin.
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