While the proportion of candidates receiving the highest grades has fallen from last year, the figure remains higher than before the pandemic.

A total of 22 per cent of entries were awarded 7/A or above, down from 26.3 per cent in 2022 but up from 20.8 per cent in 2019.

Even Yorkshire saw a rise in the proportion of candidates awarded the top grades from prior to the pandemic. Albeit the region still lags behind London and the South East.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan meets pupils as they open their GCSE results at Paddington Academy in London. PIC: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

There is also a solid base for the country to start making progress when it comes to the shortage of people going into STEM (Science, technology, engineering and maths) careers.

However, the number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) has increased by 24,000 to 794,000. These figures highlight the challenge the country has on its hands when it comes to opportunities for young people.

What is also clear is that more consideration needs to be given to the health and wellbeing of young people.

It is no longer any use viewing their lives through the prism of the past. The modern world presents new challenges and that is why growing mental health issues amongst young people need to be tackled urgently. Some of the solutions outlined by Julia Polley, headteacher at The Wensleydale School, in today’s newspaper should be looked at by the wider education sector.

Despite what cynics may say, this is a resilient generation - they had to be to come out of a global pandemic and deliver, which they have done.

GCSE results are a testament to the fortitude of the next generation - The Yorkshire Post says