While the number of GCSE entrants achieving the top A*-C grades has seen its greatest rise since 1990, most employers are still concerned about school leavers literacy and numeracy levels.

This year, 65.7% of the exams taken in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were awarded A* to C grades, compared to from 63.3% in 2007.

Over-all 98.4% of students passed, while around a fifth achieved A* or A grades.

In a yet-to-be published CBI/Pertemps employment trends survey 85% of business leaders said the government’s top priority for improving education must be ensuring school or college-leavers can read, write and add up properly.

In this year's GCSE results, numbers getting a grade F or below were 53,000 for English and 100,000 for Maths. Around half of entrants achieved the top A*-C grades in both English and Maths.

Over half of employers (51%) in the survey said they were unhappy with school-leavers’ basic literacy and numeracy skills.

Related feature: Guidance on the GCSE maze When is a GCSE not a GCSE? from our sister-site HRZone.