Congratulations to everyone receiving their results today, which are the culmination of 2 years of dedication and hard work. We want everyone, regardless of background, to be able to fulfil their potential and, for many, A levels are the pathway to a university degree.

The increase in entries to facilitating subjects, those that give students the greatest choice of options at university, mean even more young people will have access to all the opportunities higher education provides.

There has been a strong uptake in core subjects, such as maths, which continues to be the most popular A level with maths and further maths having nearly 25% more entries than in 2010. This and increasing entries to science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects bodes well for the economic prosperity of our country. It will help to grow our workforce in these sectors, allowing young people to secure well-paid jobs and compete in the global jobs market of post Brexit Britain.

Increasing the number of girls studying STEM subjects has been an important objective of the government, so it is particularly pleasing to see that more young women are taking STEM subjects and that for the first time since 2004 there are more young women than young men studying chemistry. I hope everyone receiving their results will go on to successful careers.

• The overall UK pass rate (A* to E) has remained stable since 2009, and is 97.9% for 2017
• The percentage of entries awarded the top A* or A is 26.3%, an increase on last year
• Mathematics remains the most popular A level subject, followed by combined English (literature and language)
• The proportion of all entries in science, technology, engineering and technology (STEM) has increased
• There are more female entries in chemistry than males for the first time since 2004
• The number of entries to facilitating subjects has increased, including in mathematics, further mathematics, geography and physics
• The proportion of A* to A grades awarded in French, German and Spanish all increased
• The percentage of entries awarded the top grade at AS level has increased to 23.8%