GCSE results day 2022 live: anger over north-south divide as proportion of top grades and pass rate fall – as it happened

Students celebrating their results at Barlow RC high school in Didsbury. Photograph: Mark Waugh/Mark Waugh Manchester Press Photography Ltd

12.24pm BST

That’s it from me today, thanks for joining the GCSE live blog and well done to everyone who worked so hard for their GCSEs.

I’ll leave you with this lovely picture of “our lovely Agnes” sent in by Craig McWilliam, who wrote: “Hi! Our lovely Agnes is very happy – better than expected (including a 9 in Spanish). Everyone v cheerful and champagne at 8am!”

Cheers! Hope you all enjoy a nice lunchtime nap.

Agnes celebrating her GCSEs. Photograph: Craig McWilliam

Updated at 12.36pm BST

11.54am BST

The Welsh education minister, Jeremy Miles, has praised the resilience of students.

He said:

It’s been a difficult year for the people sitting the exams. They’ve been sitting exams for the first time and have done extraordinarily well. It’s great testament to their resilience and their focus. The results are slightly below last year as anticipated and above 2019 which we were hoping to see.

Compared with England, results appear slightly worse. According to the PA Media news agency, the percentage of students who received top grades was 25.1% in Wales compared with 26% in England. The pass rate overall in Wales was 68.6%, against 73% in England.

But Miles said:

I don’t think it is a sensible comparison in the context of Covid. All countries in the UK have adopted a broadly similar approach but the way qualifications are structured means you can’t draw those direct comparisons.

Updated at 12.14pm BST