Commenting on last week's A-level results, Darren Millar AM, Welsh Conservative Shadow Education Secretary, said:

“Our students and teachers can take great encouragement from these results and are due congratulations.

“The attainment gap for the highest grades has clearly narrowed, but girls continue to outperform boys at other grades.

“The decline by nearly a fifth in the take-up of computer and science subjects is a real worry given our economy’s skills shortage in these areas.

“There is still a lot of work to do if our students are to compete against the UK’s very best in the labour market and higher education.

“International league tables still rank Wales as the worst schools system in the UK, while teaching standards and a growing recruitment crisis remain a cause for concern."