More than one-in-four A-levels were awarded an A or A* this year – the highest proportion in six years – but the overall pass rate has fallen to its lowest level since 2010.

Official figures released on Thursday show 26.4 percent of UK entries were given one of the top grades by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), with one-in 12-entries (eight per cent) scoring an A*.

It’s the second consecutive year the A*-A pass rate has risen.

Statistically, boys continue to outperform girls in the higher grade brackets, with 26.6 percent of boys’ entries given at least an A grade, while for their female peers the figure is 26.2 percent.

Plenty of students have tweeted after getting their grades and their posts make for great reading: 

Politicians and public figures have sent messages of congratulations to students:

Rapper Stormzy announced that he’s starting a scholarship to pay for two students to go to Cambridge, telling the BBC: “It’s so important for black students, especially, to be aware that it can 100% be an option to attend a university of this calibre.”

When it comes to subjects being chosen by students, science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) ones are the most popular with more than a third (36.2 percent) of students opting for them.

The JCQ said these subjects are still more popular with boys but the balance is shifting, with a 3.1 percent increase in maths entries from female students and a 6.9 percent rise in physics.

Ucas also revealed how many students gained places on degree courses, with the number falling slightly to 411,860 as of Wednesday morning, down one percentage point on the previous year. 

The proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds winning a university is up slightly to 16.1 percent and 2018 also saw an increase in international students, with 26,400 EU applicants accepted to UK universities.

The results come after an overhaul of the exam system, which has seen a total of 24 A-level subjects reformed to improve teaching structures.