Thousands of young people across Mid Wales have this morning received their GCSE, Welsh Baccalaureate and vocational qualification results.

This is the first time learners have returned to formal GCSE exams since 2019.

It has been another highly successful year for pupils receiving their GCSE results at Brecon High School.

Headteacher Richard Jenkins said: “I would like to take the opportunity to thank all pupils at the school for the way in which they have taken on the challenges of the last two years and showed the resilience and determination to perform as well as possible.

“I would also like to thank the staff of the school for their tremendous hard work and dedication in supporting pupils through such difficult and uncertain times. None of this success would be possible were it not for the tremendous support of parents and carers. Their support throughout the last two years as been incredible and I cannot thank them enough for their dedication.”

Year 11 pupils have enjoyed superb success with a large number achieving a range of top grades.

Pupils who did especially well include Jasmine Bovingdon Wood (12A*), Abi Davies (8A*, 3A, 1B), Emrys Evans (10A*, 4A), Tina Galami (12A*, 2A), Cassie Howe (7A*, 4A, 1B), Henry Hughes (6A*, 5A grades, 2B), Cerys Jones (8A*, 4A), Isabel Parry (4A*, 6A, 2B), Louis Rooza (6A*, 3A, 3B), Eryn Stephens (8A*, 4A), Olivia Thompson-Richards (6A*, 6A), Gwilym Workman (5A*, 6A 1B) and Benny Wu (6A*, 1A, 3B).

Mr Jenkins added: “I would like to take this opportunity to wish all pupils well for their future next steps and thank them for their time and contributions to Brecon High School. I would especially like to welcome all of the pupils returning to the school to complete their A Levels and am delighted with the number returning.”

Delighted Year 11 students picked up their GCSE results at Gwernyfed High School this morning, with a third achieving 5 A*-A.

All can now look forward to their future in the knowledge that continued hard work throughout the pandemic has set them up for their next steps. All indicators show improvements since the last exam series in 2019.

Proud headteacher John Williams said: “It is difficult to single out individuals for praise. All had their own varying experiences during the last two years. To think they were still in classes in face coverings until two weeks before their exams shows incredible resilience and their ability to work independently.

“All staff at the school should be congratulated for their work with the pupils, and appreciate the support of Powys Schools Service for their help and provision of resources. Parents have been amazing, and the community support first class.

I would like to wish all students the very best, whether they remain at their local sixth form at Gwernyfed, or study elsewhere.”

Crickhowell High School is also celebrating outstanding GCSE results with 90 per cent of all Year 11 students obtaining at least five A* to C passes at GCSE, with 19.5 per cent gaining at least ten A*/A grades and 36 per cent achieving five or more A*/A passes.

In fact, the number of students who have achieved higher points in at least nine of their qualifications (Capped 9) has also seen a very positive increase and students at every level have outperformed their targets. The school is particularly pleased that 86 per cent of students achieved one or more GCSE A* to C passes in Science, English and Maths.

These results are significantly higher than the Wales and Powys averages in 2019 when external examinations last took place.

Headteacher Jackie Parker said: “I am so very proud of our amazing students who have taken on a global pandemic and beaten it with their resilience, positivity and dedication to achieve such amazing results. It has been such a great privilege to celebrate these superb young people and their outstanding success.

“These impressive results reflect our consistentlyhigh academic standards, achieved year on year, and I also commend the dedication and hard work of our staff, parents and governors. In this my last year as headteacher of this wonderful school I could not be more thrilled and I cannot wait to hear of their future successes which will be many.”

Learners, staff and the whole community at Ysgol Maesydderwen have been celebrating an outstanding set of GCSE and BTEC results. Notable successes include: Keira Hemsley (9A*, 2A, 1B), Seren Rees (9A*, 2A, 1B), Tavian James (8A*, 4A), Olivia Perrott (8A*, 4A), Hannah Petherick (8A*, 4A), Tyler Kelly (7A*, 6A), Leon Cook (5A*, 6A, 1B), Jordan Darshan (5A*, 6A, 1B), Imogen Robson (5A*, 6A, 1B) and Abbey Newton (5A*, 5A, 2B).

Headteacher Mr Grimes said: “I am exceptionally proud of our learners on all their success today. The hard-work, commitment and resilience from learners, parents/carers and staff has resulted in these exceptional examination results and I am delighted for each and every one of our learners.

“A special thanks must also go to the teaching staff whose commitment to support the learners captures the essence of what makes Ysgol Maesydderwen so very special and our learners so successful.”

Christ College Brecon GCSE pupils have achieved an outstanding 43 per cent grades 8 and 9 and 62.3 per cent of grades being 7-9. The college follows the English curriculum meaning grades are scored 1-9, with a 9 being the equivalent of an A*.

Nearly 1 in 5 pupils achieved a clean sweep of all grades 8-9 and over a quarter of pupils achieved all grades of 7 or higher, equivalent to A-A*.

In 2019, when formal examinations were last sat, 25 per cent of pupils achieved grades 8-9 and 41 per cent grade 7-9.

Pupils who performed particularly well include Mark Gorodkin from Staunton-on-Wye who achieved straight 9 grades. In addition, Rowan Beasley from Llandrindod Wells and Tomos Feasey from Llanfilo both achieved 9 x 9 grades and 1 x 8 grade, equivalent of all A*’s.

Head of Christ College, Gareth Pearson, said: “This is an outstanding set of results achieved by a very hardworking cohort. We are incredibly proud of all of our pupils today.”

Over in the west, Llandovery College students have secured superb results in their GCSEs, continuing on from the outstanding A-level results announced last week.

Students, parents and staff are celebrating with an overall achievement of 34 per cent 9-7s (A*-A) grades and an increase to 83 per cent of 9-4s (A*-C) grades. This clearly demonstrates that students at all levels have gained the recognition that they deserve.

Llandovery College’s highest performing students secured an impressive 11A*s, 10A*s and 9A*s, with many more delighted students achieving a host of A*s and A grades.

Llandovery College Warden, Dominic Findlay, said: “I am hugely proud of both the students and staff who worked tirelessly over the past two very difficult years to gain such wonderful results.

“We look forward to welcoming those returning to Llandovery College in September,alongside a significant number of new students, as they progress along their educational pathway in the sixth form.”

Celebrations continue at Newtown High School following a “pleasing“ set of GCSE results at campuses in Newtown and Presteigne.

Headteacher Rob Edwards praised students for their hard work during a challenging academic year.

“We are incredibly pleased to see the hard work and efforts of our students being rewarded,” he said.

“This is particularly pertinent after what has been a challenging academic year for all. There has been a continued upward trend in all Key Performance Measures since 2019, the last time students sat external exams.

“We are today celebrating another set of strong GCSE results and this can only be attributed to the resilience, tenacity, cheerfulness and high spirits of a special group of students.

“The results achieved by students today and the strong A level results last week finish off a successful year for the school, in the most difficult of circumstances.

“As ever, I want to thank the staff, parents and the wider school community who have supported us throughout this year.”

Chair of governors, Jo Banks said “The students receiving results this week have shown great resilience and the hard work that has gone into achieving their results must be recognised and celebrated. Newtown High School’s results show clear and strong improvement over those returned the last time students sat formal examinations.

“More students are achieving at all levels and this gives us confidence for the future. As a school we remain committed to our ongoing journey of improvement, helping all our pupils achieve their potential.”

Assistant headteacher Mrs Adrienne Davies congratulated all the students’ at John Beddoes and Newtown campuses on their well-earned results, adding: “It is so pleasing to see the smiles on our students faces and that a large number of students are returning to Newtown Sixth Form.”

Notable performers on the Newtown campus include Marianne Despres-Davies (10A, 3A), Mia Davies (6A*, 3A, 2B), Grzegorz Kuras (4A*, 5A, 3B) and Dylan Ramirez-Chavez (4A*, 4A, 4B).

Notable performers on the John Beddoes campus include Megan Powell (8A*, 2A and 1B), Millie Traylor: 8A*, 3A, 1B), Emelia Watts (6A*, 2A and 3B), Ben Cosgrove (5A, 1A, 3B, 1C) and Ryan Jones (3A*, 5A, 2B, 1C)

Across Wales, there are fewer top grades at GCSE than last year.

A quarter of grades were A* and A, in a similar vein to last week’s A-level grades as exam bodies move the system back to pre-Covid pandemic norms.

68.6 per cent of marks were A* to Cs, down from 73.6 per cent last year when grades were decided by teachers.