First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones today congratulated students collecting their GCSE and Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification results.
The First Minister, who joined students at Treorchy Comprehensive as they collected their results, said:
“It’s great to be part of the celebrations today. The young people of Wales have performed excellently and they should be proud, these are Wales’ best ever results, continuing our improving trend since devolution.
“The pass rate for GCSE has improved again this year and the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification is going from strength to strength. I’m particularly pleased to see the continuing growth in the proportion of high grades that our students are achieving at GCSE and the extremely high success rates for those taking the Welsh Baccalaureate.
“It is encouraging to see an increase in the number of young people taking Welsh second languages at GCSE. Results also indicate there is continued interest and success in the key areas of science and mathematics; subjects vital to the future needs of industry in Wales and beyond.
“I’m sure those who have been successful today would want to join me in thanking their parents and teachers for the support and guidance that has helped them achieve these results.”
GCSE results for students in Wales published today show that compared to 2009:
- the overall pass rate increased by 0.2 of a percentage point to 98.7%;
- the proportion of passes at grades A* to C increased by 0.9 of a percentage point this year to 66.4%; and,
- the proportion of A* and A grades increased by 0.3 of a percentage point to 19.2%.
This summer sees the first awards of the Welsh Baccalaureate, Intermediate and Foundation Diplomas since the roll-out of the qualification at these levels across the 14-19 age range began in September 2009.
Whilst the great majority of learners in centres where delivery commenced last year are on two year courses and their results will not be reflected until next summer, it is encouraging to see that the numbers completing the Welsh Baccalaureate at these levels continues to grow rapidly.
The First Minister said:
“The growing success of the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification at these levels, together with the outstanding Advanced level successes announced last week, show that the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification continues to establish itself as the qualification of choice for learners aged 14-19 in Wales.
“Today sees almost 4,000 learners achieving the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification at Foundation and Intermediate level. On top of the 4360 that achieved the Advanced level award last week, this shows the extent to which the Welsh Baccalaureate has already established itself as a key part of our 14-19 landscape.”
In total, 3701 learners completed the Welsh Baccalaureate at Intermediate level, up 60% on last year. 2345 (82%) of these achieved the full Welsh Baccalaureate Intermediate Diploma. At Foundation level 2349 learners completed the programme, up 66% from last year, and 1619 (69%) achieved the Welsh Baccalaureate Foundation Diploma.
First Minister Carwyn Jones added:
“It is great to see the number of candidates increasing so rapidly – and this will continue to grow as roll-out progresses. It is great to see the increase in number of learners in Wales taking the Welsh Baccalaureate route – employers and learning providers agree that it helps equip young people with the skills and attitudes they need to succeed in further studies and the world of work.
“The hard work for these students has really paid off – their results set them in very good stead for ongoing study, whichever pathway they choose. There is, of course, plenty of help on hand to guide students through the range of choices available to them.
“Whether continuing their learning and development in school, college or the workplace, the choices that students collecting their results today make will help secure a prosperous and successful future for themselves and also for Wales.”
