SHADOW Minister for North Wales, Mark Isherwood AM, is delighted that Alyn and Deeside has come second from the top out of 40 Welsh constituencies in?2011 educational attainment statistics?published today, but is concerned three North Wales counties are below?both 50% and the Welsh average for pupils achieving the GCSE threshold level.

The latest National Statistics on School Statistics by Assembly Constituency and Region produced by the Welsh Government show that the percentage of pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year who achieved the Level 2 threshold including GCSE A* - C in English or Welsh first language and Mathematics was 62.6% in Alyn and Deeside, but in Wrexham the figure was only 43.8%, in the Vale of Clwyd 47.5% and Ynys Mon 47.9%. Gower in South Wales came out top with 65.5%.? The average across Wales was 50.1%.?

Mr?Isherwood said: "I congratulate??pupils and teachers in?Alyn and Deeside on this fantastic achievement. However,?after more than a decade of Welsh Government investment,??generally targeted at more deprived areas, it is deeply worrying that such high numbers of young people are still being let down by the education system."

He added: "We must break the link between educational underachievement and poverty. We must apply target measures to underachievement wherever we find it, championing the many head teachers who argue that the life chances of pupils should not be written off because of their geographical location."

Last year Mr Isherwood expressed concern at the substantial number of pupils throughout North Wales who are entering secondary school without meeting basic standards in the core curriculum subjects of English, Welsh, maths and science.

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