Pupils across Powys are top of the class this year as they've outperformed students across Wales in their GCSE exams.
Over two thirds of the issued results, 67.1%, were at grades A* to C compared to the 61.2% Welsh average.
Almost one in five, 18.8%, were at the highest grades A* to A in Powys which is almost one percentage point higher than this year’s Welsh average of 18.1%.
Nearly all of the results in Powys, 98.2%, were at a passing grade of A* to G compared to the 96.3% Welsh average.
Excited Brecon High School pupil Aleksandra Fafara, 16, said: "I’m going to cry, I’ve done so well. All I wanted was an A in language and I got it.
"I got three A*s and a load of As. It’s overwhelming, I really didn’t think anything like this would happen so I’m just over the moon."
Fellow classmate 16-year-old Owain Powell-Jones said: "I did well yeah, I’m really happy with how I did. I got into my course in Merthyr college and I’m just really happy about that."
Despite remaining higher than the Welsh average in all grade boundaries, Powys has seen a slight drop this year in the number of top grades, A* and A, being awarded from 19.4% last year to 18.8% this year.
However both Powys County Council and Qualifications Wales have warned about drawing comparisons with results in previous years due to the changing GCSE requirements.
A Powys County Council spokesman said: "These results maintain the high standards seen in previous years’ performance and remain consistently above the all-Wales averages. In addition, many pupils have also achieved equivalent qualifications in vocational subjects.
"At national level there have been considerable changes to GCSE requirements since 2016. These significant changes make direct comparisons with previous years inappropriate. In 2017 A* - C grades in Wales dropped by nearly 4%, with schools in Powys proving more resilient to change as reflected in a corresponding increase of 0.2% at that time.
"All young people have been supported through their local schools in preparation for the changes and continue to receive advice and support through their schools in relation to their ongoing education options."
He also said that the recent figures do not include grades awarded on the new 1-9 scale but "little change" is expected in the overall figures when results from other exam boards are added are more than 90% of exam entries are with WJEC.
Powys County Council’s cabinet member for learning and Welsh language councillor Myfanwy Alexander said: “Our warm congratulations go to all pupils for achieving such excellent results which demonstrate their great commitment and hard work.
"This is made possible by the support they receive from dedicated teaching and support staff in all our schools and also from their families.”
Due to technical issues, we were unable to post to our website yesterday regarding this year’s GCSE results.