Best-ever top marks for Wales’ A-level students
WALES has recorded its highest ever top marks of A* in this year’s A-level results. It is slightly ahead of the UK national figure, although there has been a slight dip in the overall pass rate of A* to E.
A total 8.7% of grades were A*, the best outcome in Wales since the grade was introduced in 2010 when 6.5% got an A*.
This year’s top grade results are also 0.4 percentage points higher than the previous best figure in Wales in 2017 and 0.7 percentage points higher than the UK this year.
The proportion achieving A* or A is also up 1.3 percentage points on last year to 26.3% but the overall pass rate A* to E is 97.4%, a 0.3% fall on 2017.
In the second year of Wales’ reformed A-levels, 10 new qualifications were taken for the first time and six new AS qualifications.
The subject with the highest rate of A* grades was further maths with a massive 41.4% of candidates getting the top grade.
The A* was least likely in ICT, with 0.3% at that grade, technology subjects, with 1%, and Welsh second language, where 2.1% got A*s.
Boys outperformed girls in the very top grades (A* to A) this year, after outperforming girls for the first time last year.
Provisional results for the whole of Wales from exam board the WJEC and regulator Qualifications Wales show slight rises in B and C grades with the fall in pass rates at the lower end of grades.
The proportion of candidates awarded A* to A was in line with the UK, although Wales out performed the UK at A*.
Education Secretary Kirsty Williams said yesterday’s A-level results show
Wales’ education reforms are working. Congratulating students and teachers, she said it was testament to their hard work that Wales recorded its best rate ever of the highest A* grade and only a very slight drop overall in pass rates in the second year of A-level reforms.
Speaking to the Western Mail after visiting pupils collecting their results at Ysgol Glantaf in Cardiff, she insisted exams had not got easier and independent bench marking ensured they were on a par with those across the border.
She said: “Look at the huge amount of work that has gone into these exams. There is no evidence at all to suggest that these exams are easier.
“Our exams are bench marked against those in Northern Ireland and England and standards are being maintained.
“People don’t have to take my word for that. That has been validated by people independent of the government who can ensure that we and the children who have achieved our qualifications can have confidence that what they have achieved is first class and is comparable with anybody in the UK.”
She added: “Today’s results are the culmination of a huge amount of hard work that has gone into these exams from students, their teachers and lecturers.
“They are to be congratulated on a really encouraging set of results that I believe can give us confidence in our new qualifications and the education reform programme in Wales.
“I think these results can give us encouragement that the system has coped very well with new sets of A-levels being introduced and that students in our schools and colleges are working really hard to ensure that we see a raising of standards.
“It is particularly encouraging to see a rise in numbers taking Stem subjects. Maths continues to be the most popular A-level and those studying maths have done very well. But we have also seen growth in the number taking biology, chemistry and physics.
“If we look to the future economy of Wales and where jobs of the future are going to be having students well qualified in STEM bodes very well.”
A-level entries fell this year to 32,445, a 2.6% fall on 2017 continuing the decreasing A-level entries since the summer of 2015, in line with the reduction in size of the 18-year old population, the WJEC said.
The percentage of students achieving A*-E grades is 97.4%, a small decrease compared with 2017 (97.7%), but in line with the range of the last decade, the exam board said.
In Wales, boys continued to outperform girls this year, after pressing ahead for the first time last year, at both grades A and A*.
At other grades girls continued to outperform boys, with 98% of entries from girls achieving A*-E grades, compared to 96.7% of entries by boys.
The gap continues to be widest at grade C, with girls 5.4 percentage points ahead of boys.
AS top grades are also up, with 20.4% of entries were awarded an A grade in Wales, an improvement of 1.3 percentage points on the figure for 2017 against a backdrop of falling entries for AS.
Welsh Conservatives shadow education spokesman Darren Millar AM called on the Welsh Government to address what he called “shortcomings” in the education system.
He said: “A-levels are tough and require a lot of hard work to succeed. Every A-level student opening their results this morning should be very proud of what they have achieved over the last two years.
“The increase in the percentage of top grades being obtained by Welsh students is encouraging and that both boys and girls are the beneficiaries of that is more welcome news.
“However, I remain deeply concerned with the ongoing issues facing Welsh schools including teacher recruitment, teaching quality and Wales’ consistently poor position in international education league tables. The Welsh Government must address these shortcoming with urgency to ensure that hardworking pupils achieve can even better results going forward.”
Plaid Cymru’s shadow education cabinet secretary, Llyr Gruffydd AM, said: “Congratulations to all those students who have achieved such brilliant results. It is a testament to our talented and hard-working teachers and students that we have seen another rise in the rate of top A-level grades.
“Under sustained cuts from the Labour Welsh Government, teachers are facing ever-worsening conditions and ever-increasing pressures. It is therefore particularly impressive that teachers and students have achieved these results under such challenging circumstances.
“The education sector has been crying out for a fair funding deal from the Labour Welsh Government. They must now act to ensure the issues we are seeing do not translate into poorer results in the future.” National Association of Head Teachers Cymru policy director Rob Williams congratulated pupils on their achievements and added: “It is fair to say that students and teachers have faced even greater challenges in 2018.
“Any reforms to qualifications can be daunting, but the scale of change coupled with a degree of uncertainty in the availability and quality of some support materials, very tight school budgets and squeezed resources, and significant changes to entry patterns, has created a radically different landscape.
“Post-16 education has faced some of the most severe funding issues and yet, as always, school leaders, teachers and support staff have displayed full commitment to their students, which has resulted in some pleasing overall outcomes.
“Welsh Government must now seek to work with school leaders to explore a sufficient, equitable and transparent long-term funding strategy that enables all schools to ensure they can truly support their students, year after year.”
Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) said there were some encouraging signs but others which were worrying.
She added: “Congratulations to the many students who, despite having dealt with the stress and pressure of rushed-in exam reforms, have done so well in their A-levels. It is good to hear that so many students will have the chance to go to university or onto an apprenticeship, if this is what they want to do. It is encouraging to see that more students are studying maths and sciences at A-level, and that this is increasing year-on-year.
“It is worrying, however, that there continues to be a decline in students studying languages such as French, Spanish and German, as well as in history, geography and, unusually, English, which are all important sub
jects to gain access to university or work. It is good that entries to Stem subjects continue to rise and although there are more males than females taking these subjects, female entries are increasing.
“Despite far fewer female entries in physics and D&T, this year they have achieved higher grades than males.”