EDUCATION bosses in York and North Yorkshire have struck the first blow in the A-level debate with a full-page advert congratulating students in The Times newspaper.

City of York Council director of Education Patrick Scott and his North Yorkshire counterpart Cynthia Welbourn are two of the signatories on a celebratory notice praising the students' hard work and success.

Mr Scott said: "This was about us getting in there first and saying we can have the debate about the exam results, but let's not forget what an extraordinary achievement these results are, what a credit to the young people and a credit to the schools and teachers."

He said: "I really object strongly to the notion that because the grades are improving that somehow means standards are falling or they are getting easier to achieve.

"Instead, as a profession, teaching is getting much better at helping students achieve these results."

The declaration came as it emerged that nationally A-level results have improved yet again.

Both the pass rate and the number of A-grades have increased, with 96 per cent of students now passing the exams, and almost 22 and a half per cent achieving A-grades.

All Saints' RC School, York, headteacher Bill Scriven said: "There have been some fantastic results, which is down to the hard work, but now schools are getting better at teaching, in terms of IT support and internet resources, and are always trying to improve school for our pupils."

Dr David Selby, deputy head teacher of Joseph Rowntree School, which saw six students achieve four or more A-grades, said: "The simple fact is that students who work hard and work well with teachers get good results because they have put the effort in, and they definitely do deserve those results.

"It's hard to compare between the A-levels and from year to year but the fact is that children year on year do do better and that's because they are working better."

Updated: 10:56 Thursday, August 19, 2004