Video, podcast and pages of GCSE results from across Yorkshire

In full: Results from Yorkshire’s schools - as we receive them

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Record pass rates were achieved both nationally and in Yorkshire yesterday, the number of passes rising for the 23rd year in a row.

However, the results also show that boys are struggling to keep up with their female classmates – especially when it comes to achieving A* and A grades.

More than one in four – 26.5 per cent – of girls’ entries were awarded an A or A* this summer, compared with 19.8 per cent of boys’ exams, according to figures from the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ).

This is a gap of 6.7 percentage points, the widest it has been since the A* grade was introduced in 1994.

It is the opposite of A-levels, where last week’s figures showed that boys were closing the gap.

The gender gap has also widened at A*-C for GCSE. This year 66 per cent of boys’ exams gained at least a C compared with 73.5 per cent of girls’, a difference of 7.5 percentage points. Last year the gap was 7.2 per cent.

The general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, Brian Lightman, said: “At A-level, boys are clearly very focused on the grades they need for university entry.

“Boys will focus on a means to an end and they will therefore aim for the end, and we’ve seen an increase in that. At GCSE perhaps that sort of maturity that girls have at that stage is not quite there with the boys, and they can’t see that obvious reason to aim for the A*.”

Mr Lightman added that the increasing numbers of girls taking separate sciences at GCSE could be fuelling the gender gap.

“Girls were not opting for separate sciences as much a few years ago. There’s now been a big increase in the confidence of girls to do more science, to specialise in science – the outcome of that is extremely positive, and they’re getting top grades at the end.”

The figures do show that boys are slightly ahead in maths, with 16.6 per cent gaining an A or A*, compared with 16.5 per cent of girls.

Some 58.9 per cent of boys gained a C or higher in maths, compared to 58.6 per cent of girls.

Boys were also ahead in additional maths and in physics, although in this subject only at grade C or above.

Around 650,000 teenagers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their GCSE results yesterday in what was another record year for grades.

The pass rate rose for the 23rd year in a row, with almost seven in 10 entries gaining at least a C grade and nearly one in four exams at 23.2 per cent awarded a coveted A or A*, up from 22.6 per cent in 2010.

But while young people won plaudits for their grades, concerns were raised that the numbers of students taking languages, history and geography had declined drastically.

Entries for French and German slumped again this year, as did those for Spanish – the first reported decrease for this language since 2006.

History entries are down around 2,700, and geography entries have slumped by a massive 13,800 in a year.

More students are taking separate science subjects at GCSE, and there has been a marked increase in religious studies entries.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: “While it is encouraging to see the rising uptake in maths and single sciences, it is worrying that once again there are falling numbers studying languages.”

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: “The fact that modern languages continue to decline is disappointing, especially taking into account our place in a global society and economy.

“This issue needs to be addressed in the Government’s review of the national curriculum in order to reverse this extremely troubling trend.”