Swansea has published its GCSE results for its maintained schools. As with the city’s A level results last week, Swansea has beaten the Wales national average.

Year 11 students in the city are celebrating results which are again well above those for Wales as a whole, the council said. Results were expected to be lower this year, the first year of “normal” exams since 2019.

Traditional sat exams were cancelled by Covid in 2020 and 2021 and sat, but with extra support for candidates, in 2022 and 2023. Across Wales overall results are down. You can catch up with our live results updates from around Wales here

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Swansea’s summer 2024 GCSE results at a glance
  • 23.4% A*-A grades in WJEC exams, compared with 19.2% for those in Wales as a whole.
  • More than 75% of students achieved the higher grades of A* to C in 17 of the 39 different subjects.
  • 96.7% pass rate at grades A* to G, which tops the Welsh pass rate of 96.6%.
  • A*-A grades awarded to over a third of all entrants in 14 subjects.

More than 80% of entries in the following subjects, which all had more than 100 candidates, were awarded grade C or higher – photography, biology, chemistry, drama, French, music, physics, Spanish and Welsh literature. More than 40% of entries scored the top A* and A grades in biology, chemistry, French, music, physics and Spanish, again where 100 or more entered these qualifications.

Swansea Council’s cabinet member for education and learning, Robert Smith, said: “Many congratulations to all the pupils who have done so well and I’m delighted that their hard work and the work of our schools and teachers has been rewarded. I’d congratulate all students, not just those taking GCSEs, but also our young people taking alternative options offered in many of our schools that lead to important qualifications.

“There are now many paths open to young people in Swansea whether it is continuing school or college, training or apprenticeships or going onto employment. I wish all our pupils the very best for their futures whatever they decide to do.”

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