Following a week of questions over the quality of A level qualifications, the latest GCSE results show no change in the overall pass rate.

However, the performance gap between boys and girls increased marginally, following last year's fall.

Overall, 97.9 per cent of students passed their exams, with 57.9 per cent achieving grade C or above.

Girls outperformed boys by nine per cent this year, compared to 8.9 per cent last year.

The gap was wider in particular subjects, such as information technology where it increased from 6.4 to 8.7 per cent.

However, more boys gained grades A* and A in mathematics, in one of a small number of cases where the trend was reversed.

The number of students taking modern languages fell overall, although those taking Spanish rose slightly.

The largest increases in cohorts were in drama with a 6.8 per cent rise on last year, physical education with an increase of 5.2 per cent and music where the number of students taking the exam rose by exactly five per cent.

Girls also performed better in the new GNVQ examination, where the pass rate reached 70 per cent.

While the number of entries for the GCSE increased marginally, there was a large rise of nearly 11 per cent in the number of candidates taking short courses, equivalent to half a GCSE.

This was mainly accounted for by increases in the number of students taking religious education and information technology courses.

The number of candidates taking the entry course, a pre-GCSE exam, fell by 6.7 per cent overall, although there was a rise by a quarter in the numbers taking the physical education papers.

"Students are to be congratulated on an excellent set of results," said John Milner, convenor of the Joint Council of General Qualifications.

"The GCSE is now a very well-established qualification, popular with students and teachers. The outcomes of the examination reflect the hard work of both students and teachers.

"Students can be satisfied that they have achieved sound qualifications as they move forward to the next stage of their careers."