CELEBRATIONS on A-level exam results day in York, North and East Yorkshire stand testament to the grit and determination of students who have had to battle the odds.

Like pupils across England, students here have faced disruption to their schooling due to Covid-19, as well as a series of teacher strikes since February this year.

Nationwide the overall pass rate – the proportion of entries graded A* to E – has fallen to 97.3 per cent this year, which is lower than 2022 (98.4 per cent) and the pre-pandemic year of 2019 (97.6 per cent).

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The A*-E pass rate is at its lowest level since 2008 when it stood at 97.2 per cent.

The figures, published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), cover A-level entries from students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The proportion of A-level entries awarded top grades is down on last year but still remains above pre-pandemic levels, national figures show.

Hundreds of thousands of students across the country received their A-level results on Thursday in a year when ministers and the exams regulator in England aimed to return to pre-pandemic grading.

More than a quarter (27.2 per cent) of UK entries were awarded an A or A* grade, down by 9.2 percentage points on last year when 36.4 per cent achieved the top grades.

However, this was still higher than in 2019 – the last year that summer exams were taken before the pandemic – when 25.4 per cent of entries were awarded A or A* grades.

At Joseph Rowntree School in New Earswick, they were celebrating truly amazing results. Head Dave Hewitt said early analysis suggests students have performed inside the top ten per cent of schools nationally for progress from GCSE to A-level.

“To have been able to start their sixth form courses after not sitting GCSE exams and finish Year 13 with one of the best sets of results the school has ever had is truly brilliant," he said.

At Huntington School in York 30 per cent of all entries were at A* - A grades, which also includes the extended project qualification.

Head Matt Smith said: “Congratulations to all Year 13 students at Huntington School who have yet again, despite the trials and tribulations of the last few years, achieved wonderful results.”

At Outwood Academy Easingwold 31 per cent of entries awarded A*- A compared to 27 per cent nationally with 81 per cent of entries awarded A*-C compared to 76 per cent nationally.

Head of school Emma Taylor said: “The resilience our students have shown over the past two years is nothing short of remarkable; they have been an inspiration.”

Archbishop Holgate’s CE School, in Badger Hill, has recorded top marks across the board.

The school’s head of sixth forth, Frankie De Lashley, said the results “stand as an example” of what can be achieved through “hard work and determination".