The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results are up significantly on last year after a decision to base them on teachers' assessment.

Qualifications Wales estimated almost three-quarters of grades awarded were A* to C, with more than 25% A* and A grades - up from 18.4% last year.

It follows the uproar after last week's A-levels with 42% of moderated grades lower than teacher assessments.

A pupil at Mary Immaculate school in Cardiff said the fallout from A-levels had caused stress for GCSE students.

"But seeing my results today, I'm really happy and proud of myself," said Louis. "The results I got are the ones I wanted."

The exams regulator Qualifications Wales said its "best estimate" was that 74.5% of GCSE grades were awarded at A*-C, compared to 62.8% in 2019.

For GCSE, A-level, AS-levels and the Welsh Baccalaureate, pupils now receive the highest grade, whether that was their teacher's prediction or the standardised grades.

The A-level fallout escalated into a major political row and a U-turn by the Welsh government, amid similar moves elsewhere in the UK.

BBC News - Welsh GCSE results rise as grades done on teacher assessments #gcseresults2020 #Wales #UKEdChat https://t.co/0gtqzweT4S

— NEON (@NEONHE) August 20, 2020

Before the U-turn, an algorithm was applied to grades to "standardise" them.

Though thousands of students are getting GCSE results, it was announced on Wednesday that BTec results issued by Pearsons exam board would be held back for regrading.

Revised A-level results showed 41.3% of grades were A* and A, compared to 29.9% when results were released last week and 27.0% in 2019.

But the exams watchdog said A-level results were likely to go up slightly when a pledge that pupils will get their AS grade if that was higher is taken into account.

A BTec student said she found out she would not receive her results on the news and social media.

Ellie Kidd, who studies travel and tourism at Coleg Cambria, near Wrexham, said she was "distraught" not to find out her exam results today.