A-LEVEL and GCSE students across Wales will receive their results as originally planned on August 13 and 20 respectively.

Education minister Kirsty Williams has confirmed the dates - AS-level students will also get their results on August 13 - meaning Wales shares results days with England and Northern Ireland.

"As I set out in my letter to the Education Secretary for England on 31 March, during these uncertain times, providing clarity and ensuring that learners are not disadvantaged in accessing their university places by a divergence in results dates have been key priorities for me. I am pleased this will now be the case," said Ms Williams.

"Sticking to the existing results dates has been the intention in Wales, supported by the advice of our independent exam regulator Qualifications Wales.

"Proposals in England to move to a much earlier results day introduced an unnecessary risk, and I had expressed my concerns to counterparts in the UK Government, as well as the education sector here in Wales and (university and college admissions service) UCAS."

Ms Williams' announcements of result day dates comes on the same day as an announcement for England, and she said education ministers from all governments in the UK have "worked well together during these challenging times".

She regretted however, that a joint announcement on the issue had not materialised, given that GCSEs and A-levels are shared and owned across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

"Making a joint announcement would have helped provide much needed assurance and certainty for all of our learners, their parents and practitioners at this difficult time," she said.

"I hope that now confirmation of results day has been provided, our learners are able to make future plans with a little more confidence, although I recognise this continues to be a time of great uncertainty."