Thank you for following our live updates on GCSE results in Wales.

To sum up:

• GCSE results were up significantly on last year after a decision to base them on teachers' assessments
• Pupils had not taken exams due to the coronavirus pandemic and had to be awarded their grades by a different method
• Qualifications Wales estimated almost 75% of grades were A* to C, compared to 62.8% last year
• More than 25% of grades were A* and A grades - up from 18.4% last year

• The grading system for both GCSEs and A-levels was changed after "anomalies" in the way an algorithm produced results
• But BTec pupils will not receive their grades yet while exam board Pearson recalculates them too for fairness

Image source, Ysgol y Grango

Two students at Ysgol y Grango in Rhosllanerchrugog near Wrexham said they were ecstatic after receiving straight A*s and As in their GCSE results.

Simu Umama said: “I’m feeling ecstatic.

"I feel relieved and I’m proud of myself.

"I’m grateful for the results I’ve got."

Simu, who will now study A-levels in History, Biology, and Government and Politics, said she had been nervous about problems with the algorithm before the decision to award centre-assessed grades.

"This last five months I’ve been hopeful because I was happy with my predicted grades.

"Then obviously I got quite nervous with what was happening with the algorithm, but it all turned out great in the end.”

Helin Topal said, “I’m feeling really proud of my results. I did better than I thought I would.

"Obviously we didn’t get the chance to sit the exams so I didn’t really know what I would get."

Helin will now study A-levels in Psychology, Criminology, Health & Social Care and Public Services.

Bethan Lewis
BBC Wales Family & Education Correspondent

For those students in Wales who now have their GCSE grades there is certainty, after the ups and downs since last week's A-level results day.

As expected, the all-Wales picture shows a big increase in results at GCSE and A-level now they are based on teachers’ assessments.

Working out what that will mean for fairness for next year’s pupils will be part of an independent review.

Speaking at a school in the Vale of Glamorgan this morning, Welsh Education Minister Kirsty Williams said governments across the UK had tried their best to make the right decisions about exams.

But the analysis of what went wrong will have to start as attention turns to the next big challenge – reopening schools fully in a fortnight’s time.

Image source, Getty Images

At 16, teenagers face a number of training or education choices - but how have these decisions changed over time?

Here are 10 charts showing what happens next, external.

The exam board delaying the release of its BTec results while it brings them in line with GCSE and A-levels said it was doing so "for fairness".

In a statement, Pearson said it would be regrading students after the announcement that GCSE and A-level pupils would receive grades provided by their teachers.

"We will be applying the same principles for students receiving BTec results this summer," Pearson said.

"We will be regrading BTecs to address concerns about unfairness in relation to A Levels and GCSEs and ensure no BTec student is disadvantaged."

The board apologised for this causing "additional uncertainty" for students.

Sameer Burney from Ysgol y Creuddyn in Penrhyn Bay, near Llandudno, said it was a relief to have his results after such an uncertain period.

"I didn't know what to expect and it was made worse because my predicted grades weren't great, but since then I've worked hard," he said.

"I was worrying after everything that has happened but I'm happy that I got into sixth form and I passed with As and Bs."

But Sameer said he would have preferred to have taken exams.

"i do better there than in class."

Image source, PA Media

GCSE students in Wales, England and Northern Ireland are receiving results based on teacher assessments, after a last-minute change to the system.

They were originally due to receive marks worked out in a mathematical model, or algorithm, but this was abandoned following an uproar over low grades in last week's A-level results.

It follows a similar change in Scotland.

But how were the results originally decided?

Read about it here.

Image source, Getty Images

The Association of School and College Leaders has congratulated pupils in Wales on their GCSE results in "extraordinarily difficult circumstances".

Director Eithne Hughes said: “This generation of young people has suffered a degree of uncertainty and disruption that is without precedent.

"Our hearts go out to them.

"We sincerely hope that they are now able to move on to the next stage of their lives, and we wish them the very best with their future studies."

The ASCL said reverting to centre-assessed grades was "the fairest solution" after it became clear the algorithm "was producing far too many anomalous results".

Pupils at Prestatyn High School say they are "really happy" with their GCSE grades.

Nell Davies said: "I wasn’t nervous until A-level results day.

"So I was relieved when I saw we were getting centre-assessed grades rather than the algorithm."

Nell said she will now go on to study French, English and History at A-level.

George Jones, who received 10 A*s and a C, said: "I’m really happy.

"I still would’ve liked to sit the exams - I was a lot more nervous because I couldn’t rely on myself to get the grades, but it hasn't been ideal for anyone."

Ellyn Ecob added: "I’m more annoyed that it didn’t feel like a proper ending.

"Year 11 is all about exams. I was very happy with my results."

GCSE results in Wales are up significantly on last year after a decision to base them on teachers' assessment.

Qualifications Wales estimated almost three-quarters of grades awarded were A* to C - up from 62.8% last year - with more than 25% A* and A grades, compared to 18.4% last year.

It follows the uproar after last week's A-levels with 42% of moderated grades lower than teacher assessments.

Image source, Getty Images

Many UK pupils face a fresh round of results chaos after exam board Pearson pulled its BTec results on the eve of releasing them.

Pearson said it would be re-grading all its BTecs to bring them in line with A-levels and GCSEs, which are now being graded via school-based assessments.

The move affects 450,000 pupils, 250,000 of whom received grades last week, with the rest due in a few hours.

Head teachers said it was incomprehensible that changes were being made this late.

Pearson apologised and acknowledged the additional uncertainty the decision would cause.

The exam board also conducts a large proportion of the GCSEs and A-levels taken by UK pupils.

However, the late decision will cause even further disruption to students seeking places in further and higher education.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Pupils at a Blaenau Gwent school were given A-list celebrity treatment as they arrived to collect their GCSE grades.

Brynmawr Foundation School literally rolled out the red carpet for them.

Students at Mary Immaculate High School in Cardiff have been telling BBC Breakfast how they feel about the results - and the unusual process that led to them this year.

"It’s been very stressful, with the ever-changing algorithms that we’ve had to suffer this week," said James, who has achieved the grades to pursue his goal of studying to be a doctor.

Liam, who wants to follow a career in drama said: "I’m happy the U-turn took place and we’ve got what our teachers believed we deserve and what I believe we deserve."

Beatrice, who said she'd been awarded an A*, five As and five Bs under the letter grades still used in Wales, said: "I’m very proud of myself, I feel like the grades I got I did deserve because I did work hard."

Head teacher Huw James Powell said the message to government after this year's results was "trust our teachers".

"They know exactly how good our youngsters are and the results they give are accurate and fair," he said.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Pupils have been sharing their relief after receiving the GCSE grades they expected.

Maisy Evans from Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw, the Welsh-medium high school in Pontypool, received 12 A*s and an A.

She said she felt "really happy" but concerns her marks would be downgraded "put a lot of stress and pressure on us all".

The chair of governors at a school in Wales has criticised the initial decision to base this year's exam results on an algorithm.

Overall GCSE results will be significantly higher than originally intended, now that some grades will not be lowered from teacher assessments following a Welsh Government U-turn.

Gareth Morgan, chair of governors at Cyfarthfa High School in Merthyr Tydfil, said: “If the results had been based on a mathematical algorithm it would have been wrong.

"It would have been disappointing and it would have been fundamentally flawed.”

Ian Morgan, chief executive of the WJEC exam board, has warned that "grade inflation" could have an impact on future groups of students.

"We've got to maintain a qualification standard that says if you've got a GCSE in English language, your GCSE in English language for this year is the same level as your GCSE in English language for next year", he told the Welsh Parliament's children, young people and education committee on Tuesday.

"I think we've got collective challenges in that", he added.

For A-levels, Mr Morgan said that system would have meant grades A* to E would have been up by 1% from last year and A* to A would have risen by 2.9%, with A* up 0.1% on 2019, with 1.7% of candidates reaching that level.

He admitted he was “a bit disappointed” the algorithm would not be used.

Qualifications Wales said next year's exams were being looked at, warning that there was "a problem, potentially".

Read more here.

The attainment gap between pupils who are and are not eligible for free school meals in Wales is narrower compared to previous years.

Of those eligible, 54.9% received grades A-C, an attainment gap of 24.1% - compared to 27% in 2019.

But at the top marks, the attainment gap widened - 11% of pupils on free school meals received an A grade, a gap of 17.7% compared to 14.5% in 2019.

Pupils at Ysgol y Creuddyn, in Penrhyn Bay, Conwy county, are among those picking up their results.

"I've got the necessary results to do A-levels and I'm very pleased," said Caitlyn.

But she said after seeing the chaos over downgraded A-levels last week, she had been worried for her future.

"Of course I've been very nervous to get my results already, but hearing what happened to A-level students, it just made me feel worse because I thought 'what if this messes up my future'."

Her classmate Miriam also felt nervous after seeing what happened with A-levels.

"I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do some courses for A-level but I hoped that I had passed everything - I'm happy now."

Image source, Getty Images

An 18-year-old BTec student from Flint has said she was "distraught" not to find out her exam results today following a Pearson exam board announcement that it would regrade them.

Elle Kidd told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast it had caused her "unnecessary stress" and she can not confirm her place to study Level 3 at college next year.

She was due to get her BTec results today for her Level 2 travel and tourism course at Coleg Cambria, near Wrexham.

"To have released it [the announcement of regrading] the night before seems a little unnecessary and has panicked me and a lot of people.

"A lot of us found out about it on social media or on the news.

"I was quite distraught because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, especially about confirming places for next year."

WJEC said students for its version of BTecs - known as entry pathways - would receive their grades as scheduled.

A pupil at Mary Immaculate school in Cardiff said the fallout from A-levels had caused stress for GCSE students.

"But seeing my results today, I'm really happy and proud of myself," said Louis.

"The results I got are the ones I wanted."