Pupils across the country will today be discovering their A-level results.

Here are the key points you need to know about the national results:

• The proportion of A-level entries receiving the highest grades has fallen this summer, with the share getting the top A* grade dropping to a six-year low.

• Girls have overtaken boys in gaining the top grades at A level, after they narrowed the gender gap last year.

• For the first time ever, girls have also overtaken boys in entries for science A levels.

• Spanish, meanwhile, has overtaken French in the number of A-level entries.

• The number of English and maths A-level entries has gone down, with falling entries in English representing a long-term decline.

• Entries in political studies have rocketed by nearly 10 per cent, with psychology, history and geography also enjoying rising entries.

• AS-level entries have continued to fall, dropping by 44.1 per cent this year.