GCSE students across south west Wales are celebrating after picking up their long-awaited exam results on Thursday.

Pass rates in Pembrokeshire, Swansea, Carmarthenshire and Neath Port Talbot showed varied results with some regions falling below the Welsh average.

A* to C grades for WJEC pupils

Welsh average - 60.4% Carmarthenshire - 67.5% Neath- Port Talbot - 63.9% Pembrokeshire - 59.5 % Swansea - 59.1%

According to figures from the Welsh exam board, the Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC), which account for about a third of all exams sat in Wales, 60.4% of pupils gained A* to C grades.

Schools in Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire exceeded the average but in Swansea and Pembrokeshire the figures fell slightly below.

It was a similar picture across the regions for pupils achieving grades A* to G.

The figures from the WJEC show that the number of pupils which sat the Welsh board exams and passed was 97.9%.

Figures for Wales show girls are ahead of boys

In Carmarthenshire the figure was 98.9% in Neath-Port Talbot it was 98.4%.

Schools in Swansea recorded a 97.6% pass rate while in Pembrokeshire the pass rate was 97.4%.

Swansea councillor John Miles, cabinet member for education, said: "I am pleased to be able to report another good year's GCSE results.

"The results this year remain similar to the Welsh national results and maintain the high standards seen in recent years in our schools.

Girls ahead

"It is particularly pleasing to see so many subjects with over 80% of entrants achieving the higher A* to C grades."

Statistics from the Joint Council for General Qualifications - which compiles figures for all exam boards in Wales - showed 59.7% of candidates gained grade C or above.

Those figures show that across Wales girls are racing ahead of boys in the classroom.

Over 64% of girls passed at C or above compared with 55% of boys.

The development of a "laddish culture" has been blamed for the disparity in results between the sexes, which has seen girls consistently performing better in recent years.