By Colette Hume BBC Wales education correspondent

One pupil reveals her emotions on the big day

A total of 97.1% of entries in Wales have passed with grades A to E, up 0.2%, with a record 24.1% of all entries taking A grade, also up 0.2%.

Almost everyone who took an A-level in Wales passed, with nearly one in every four papers taking the top grade.

Overall, students in Wales performed very slightly better than the overall UK pass rate of 96.9%.

But when it came to that coveted A grade, students across the UK as a whole did slightly better, with 25.3% of UK papers taking As.

Gareth Pierce, chief executive of the Welsh exam board, the WJEC, said: "Students can be justifiably proud of their achievements in all subject areas, and their teachers and lecturers can be pleased with the success of their learning programmes."

WELSH A-LEVEL RESULTS 97.1% had A-E grades (+0.2%) 24.1% had A grades (+0.2%) 55% of A-levels taken by girls 52.3% of girls had a B or better 47% of boys had a B or better

Girls continued to outperform boys this year.

Some 55% of all entries came from girls, with 52.3% of exam papers taken by girls getting a grade B or better, compared with 47% of those taken by boys.

But when it comes to earning power, women continue to take a poor second place.

Chwarae Teg, which promotes the role of women in the Welsh economy, said women's hourly earnings continued to be 12% lower than their male counterparts, with women barely accounting for a third of middle and senior management positions.

Hayley Dunne of Chwarae Teg said: "The issue of the gender pay gap is complex.

Core skills

"On entry into employment young men and women have virtually identical earnings, but this changes as people progress through their life/work cycle."

Chwarae Teg said women tend to take time out of employment to have children, they are increasingly increasingly looking after elderly relatives, and often returning to work often on a part-time basis.

The organisation also warned that unless companies had a genuinely flexible culture women would not be able to compete.

CLEARING NUMBERS Aberystwyth 01970 622000 Bangor Uni 0800 085 1818 (Eng) 0800 3285 763 (Welsh) Cardiff Uni 029 2087 6000 Trinity Coll, Carmarthen 01267 676767 Uni of Glam 0800 716 925 Lampeter 01570 424600 Newi 01978 293439 Newport Uni 01633 435000 Swansea Uni 01792 295097 Swansea Inst 0800 731 0884 Uwic 029 2041 6040 National exams results helpline 0808 100 8000

The number of students passing the advanced Welsh Baccalaureate, or Bac, has also increased.

The new qualification is taken alongside two or three A-levels and is worth 120 points with Ucas, the university and college applications body.

The Bac is being accepted by an increasing number of universities outside Wales. To pass the Bac, students need to demonstrate core skills in communication and numeracy as well as evidence of voluntary work, a young enterprise project and the completion of a long essay.

The WJEC said 1,538 students entered for the Bac, and this year 964 have been awarded the advanced diploma, an average of 34 students in each of the 28 pilot schools and colleges.

Martin Lloyd, head teacher of Ysgol Preseli, Pembrokeshire, said: "We are extremely pleased with these results, which are the first Welsh Bac results for the school.

"Our students have worked hard over two years to meet the requirements of the advanced diploma and they have developed useful skills to help them in their future careers."