Cowbridge Comprehensive School, which has more than 300 sixth form students, has expressed its congratulations to their A and AS students on their achievements. It is yet to publish its performance breakdowns.

Cllr Rhiannon Birch, Vale of Glamorgan Council Cabinet Member for Education, Arts and the Welsh Language echoed this sentiment.

"Congratulations to the many who are celebrating after another excellent performance for the County. A lot of effort has gone into achieving this success, so I hope our sixth-form pupils enjoy their moment.

"A great deal of hard work is also put in by teachers and school staff, alongside support from parents, and these groups also deserve recognition at a time like this.

"I'd encourage pupils to savour their accomplishments, and whatever the future holds, I wish them every success for the future".

Wales as a whole has seen a decline in top grades. Those achieving the top A* has fallen to 10.1% from 13.5% last year, and the A*-A 29.9* dropped to 34% A*-A.

The overall pass rate for grades A* to E stands at 97.4%, closely matching last year's 97.5% and the 97.6% recorded in 2019, the last year of traditional exams before the pandemic.

This is notably lower than the pass rates during the pandemic, where teacher-assessed grades led to 99.9% in 2020 and 99.1% in 2021.

In England, however, top A Level grades in England have risen in comparison to last year.

This year marked the first year to return to pre-pandemic conditions.

"This year is the first year where we've got a return to normal assessment and grading arrangements," said Philip Blaker, Chief Executive of Qualifications Wales.

It is "important to return to pre-pandemic arrangements for qualifications, to secure long-term fairness in the system, and ensure learners in Wales can progress with confidence to whatever lies ahead."