AS A-level results day unfolded thousands of North-East and North Yorkshire teenagers were left celebrating another bumper crop of results.

Even though the pass rate has dropped for the first time in 30 years many schools and colleges in our region achieved percentage pass rates in the high 90s - with some recording 100 per cent success rates.

It is thought the decision to scrap the January exam session, which has cut the chances students have to re-sit papers and increased the amount of time for revision, coupled with a move by students to opt for 'harder' traditional subjects favoured by universities, is likely to have had an impact on results.

Some of the outstanding performers in the region included Carmel College in Darlington, which recorded an overall pass rate of 100 per cent, with 56 per cent achieving the highest A*-B grades.

New College Durham racked up 100 per cent pass rates in 14 subjects while Middlesbrough College recorded 100 per cent passes in 17 subjects.

The Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in Darlington had another very good year with 99.3 per cent passing A levels - half of them achieving the higher A* to B grades.

Nunthorpe Academy in Middlesbrough also had a 100 per cent pass rate with 51 per cent of students achieving the higher A* to B grades.

While the national A-level pass rate dropped to 98 per cent there was a rise in the proportion of exams handed the very highest grades.

Just over one in four (26 per cent) of exams were awarded an A* or A grade, down 0.3 percentage points up on last summer.

The proportion of A*grades rose to 8.2 per cent up 0.6 per cent on 2013.

Boys out-performed girls at A* grade for the third year running, with 8.5 per cent of boys entries attaining the top mark, compared with 7.9 per cent of the girls, according to the official data, published by the Joint Council for Qualifications.

Exam board bosses said the decline in pass ratres could be fuelled by more students deciding to take “facilitating subjects” - traditional subjects often favoured by top universities – even if they are less likely to perform well in them.

The latest results show that an increasing number of students are choosing science, with the number electing to study biology, chemistry and physicals rising by two per cent, while those taking maths has gone up by 0.9 per cent and further maths by 1.5 per cent.

The number studying English has gone down by 4.6 per cent and even greater decreases can be seen in subjects such as general studies, which has dropped by a massive 24.3 per cent.

Lesley Davies, vice president of quality, standards and research at Pearson UK, said students were chosing more traditional subjects as they were becoming increasingly focused on what was needed for their career, rather than what they might find easy.

Another trend is a fall in the number of students taking languages at A-level, raising fears that the UK will fail to remain competitive on the world stage.

The number of students studying French has gone down from 11,272 last year to 10,433 this year, a drop of 7.4 per cent, while for German the number has decreased from 4,242 to 4,187 – a 1.2 per cent fall.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said: “I’m delighted to see more student, especially young women, studying maths and sciences and teachers having more time to push pupils to achieve the very top grades. This will help them secure the top jobs regardless of their background, and secure a brighter future.”