Sixth-form students across the country received their A-level results yesterday, with celebrations in order for many after record high grades look set to ignite the annual row about whether standards have dropped.

Of the 800,000 exams sat, a record 24.1 percent, were graded “A” while the pass rate rose 0.4 percent to 96.6 percent. A major factor in the improvement this year came from better performances by those taking mathematics, with the number of grade As up 2.8 percent.

However, the popularity of physics continued to decline and one of the most popular “soft” subjects, Media and Film Studies, moved into the top 10. Although boys made an improvement compared to girls at pass grades, girls continued to outperform boys for top marks.

“Girls now outperform boys at grade ‘A’ in every major A level subject, apart from modern foreign languages,” said the director of the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). But critics still say A-levels have been made easier to boost the pass rate while ministers insist children are getting better at taking exams.

The director of the JCQ rejected a call from a think-tank this week to replace A-levels with a British version of the French baccalaureate exams.