A-LEVEL students in Gwent were today collecting their results, as education bosses denied that another year of record passes showed a 'dumbing down' of the qualification.

Figures from the Welsh Joint Education Committee show the overall pass rate has improved on last year by 0.6 per cent, to 94.3 per cent.

The number of A grades in Wales has risen by 2.1 per cent to 22.6 per cent, and Assembly figures show a larger percentage of students in Wales achieved A grades than the combined Wales, England and Northern Ireland average of 18.6 per cent - an improvement of 0.8 per cent compared to last year.

Today the head of the Welsh Joint Education Committee hit back at critics who claim today's examinations are too easy.

David Rosser, director of the Confederation of British Industry Wales, said he knew people in higher education circles were suggesting A-levels were becoming easier. He said: "Higher education professionals are saying depth and knowledge are not as good as a decade ago.

"Clearly teachers put in a lot of hard work teaching the syllabus, and pupils also work hard.

"I wouldn't want to decry these efforts and I have no hard evidence that A-levels are easier than they were years ago."

Wyn Roberts, chief executive of the WJEC, said a "great number of checks" were undertaken each year to make sure the achievements of candidates were comparable with the past.

Mr Roberts put the increases in the pass rates at the various grades down to the fact that a high percentage of students take modular examinations.

He said: "We think they increase motivation by giving candidates short-term goals to reach, and they seem to be reacting very positively to those.

"If the percentage getting grades are going up, then people say the exams are easier, and if for one year they go down, then they say standards are going down."

But Russell Lawson, of the Federation of Small Business Wales, said some members complained that although they were seeing people apply for jobs with A-levels, the candidates often lacked basic skills such as numeracy and literacy.

He said: "It's a worry that the education system has probably been slipping a bit in the past few years."

He added there appeared to be "grade inflation" and that in some cases it seems to easy to get qualifications.

Assembly education minister Jane Davidson said: "The increase in students achieving pass marks is very pleasing and the increased proportion achieving at grade A powerful testament to their hard work and that of their teachers."

PICTURED: Maria Plummer, 18, of Larch Grove, Malpas, Newport, celebrates gaining two As and a B. The Bettws High School pupil now plans to go through the clearing process and study culture and media studies