Education authorities say concerns that GCSE results would be more variable this year because of changes to exam procedures have proved unfounded.

The Isle of Man's results compare well with last year's - and students have done particularly well in maths.

Paul Craine of the Department of Education said: 'This is perhaps the most pleasing element of the 2014 results. There is considerable demand on the Island in the finance, IT and other sectors, for people with strong maths skills. These maths outcomes are the result of a great deal of focussed work across all the schools and this places us in a good position for the qualifications changes coming in the near future.'

Ofqual, the examinations regulator in the UK, had predicted a 'much greater than normal variation' because of the transition back to linear assessment. In the new academic year, starting this September, Isle of Man students break with the UK to study the International GCSE.

The total number of full GCSE (or equivalent) entries was just over 8,000. On average, each student was entered for the equivalent of 9.5 GCSEs. Provisional analysis shows the A*-G pass rate for full and short course GCSEs at 99.2% was in line with last year’s record of 99.3%.

Sixty nine per cent of the GCSE entries were passed at the higher grades, A*-C equalling last year’s record, while 17.7% of the entries produced A or A* grades – slightly down on last year’s figure of 19.3%.Within these overall figures, 74.5 per cent scored a pass at grade C or above in maths.

Students from St Ninian's High School are pictured getting their results.

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