Overall achievement at GCSE level is down for the first time in three years, exam results released today will reveal.

As students await their results, the government has announced that the pass rate has fallen to 97.6 per cent.

This represents a small reduction after three years at a constant pass rate of 97.9 per cent.

"Today we applaud these good results and praise the candidates and their teachers who have worked so hard to achieve them," Charles Clarke said.

"GCSEs provide a valuable record of young people's progress and that is why we have set a tough challenge for increasing the number of young people achieving five or more top grade GCSEs."

But shadow education secretary Damian Green said the data revealed falling standards in many areas.

'The gap between the best and the worst is widening under Labour. With more than 30,000 pupils leaving school last year alone with no qualifications, the figure looks likely to increase this year," he said.

The Liberal Democrats said there were still issues of concern in areas such as education and maths.