He said: "If this was the case, then schools would be setting their students up for a fall and for what advantage? All our students managed to secure a place of choice this year and that is only possible if your predications are as accurate as they can be."

Applications to universities are up around 12% on last year.

Professor Michael Brown, Vice-Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University said: "Demand is very high and what we have done is to hold back 400 places issued in clearing."

He admitted the places were aimed at the "very best students" and added: "We are using clearing in a very innovative way."

Successful Liverpool schools included St Edward’s College, in Sandfield Park, and Walton’s Archbishop Beck, which managed 100% pass rates.

Both sexes at Crosby’s Merchant Taylors’ school also managed the feat.

In Liverpool, students outdid last year’s efforts, managing a provisional pass rate of 96.1% compared to 95.7% last year.

Cllr Jane Corbett, cabinet member for education, said: "It is fantastic news that our results are outstripping the improvement nationally."

Provisional figures show Wirral students also failed to match the national average, despite another record year.

The borough’s provisional pass rate shows the annual pass rate has risen slightly from 97.2% to 97.5%.

This means they are just under the national pass rate of 97.6%, which rose 0.1%since 2009. Provisional figures show in Knowsley that students failed to match last year’s overall pass rate, with a 4.5% drop to 94%.

But there has been a big improvement in the A*-C pass rate which has shot up by 8.3% to 58.8%.

Both Wirral and Knowsley councils stress the figures could rise once all results are validated.

Howard Cooper, director of Wirral’s children and young people’s department, said: "These results demonstrate the very high quality of teaching in our schools."

The provisional pass rate in St Helens went up by 3% since last year and now stands at 97.5%. Early indications in Sefton also suggest students are on course to come close to or even match last year’s results.