STUDENTS in schools across South Gloucestershire have been praised for their hard work in the wake of the latest tables showing a rise in the number achieving five or more "high end" grades at GCSE.

Government figures show the proportion of young people gaining GSCEs at grades A*-C (or equivalent vocational qualifications) rose to 56.2 per cent.

A*-C passes in the benchmark five subjects, including English and Maths, increased by more than one per cent to 45.4 per cent - the third improvement in a row.

There was continued high performance at Thornbury's Castle School. More than two thirds (67 percent) of all candidates achieved five or more A*-C passes or equivalent while almost 60 per cent achieved passes at C or above in subjects including English and Maths.

Marlwood School at Alveston also had a strong showing with 62 per cent A*-C passes and was among the district's highest performing state schools alongside The Castle, The Ridings High School in Winterbourne (77 per cent) and Chipping Sodbury School (60 per cent).

The Ridings, The Castle and Marlwood were also in the top 10 state schools across the Greater Bristol areas in terms of A-level point scores.

A number of schools improved their performance significantly.

Filton High School's results for students achieving five or more GSCE grades A*-C or equivalent rose for the third year running, from 40 to 47 per cent, Patchway Community College from 42 to 50 per cent, the Grange School and Sports College from 42 to 50 per cent and at Chipping Sodbury School from 42 to 60 per cent.

Pupils sitting A Levels, AS Levels or equivalent qualifications in South Gloucestershire secondary schools achieved an average point score per pupil of 701.4 and an average point score per examination entry of 200.4.

The results in key stage four (GCSE or equivalent) and key stage five (A, AS level or equivalent) follow significant improvements in key stage three. The proportion of pupils achieving the expected national standard in English improved from 74 to 76 percent, remained at 79 per cent in maths and increased from 75 to 77 percent in science.

Cllr Sheila Cook, Council executive member for children and young people, said: "Congratulations to all the young people in South Gloucestershire who sat their GCSEs, vocational and further education exams.

"We are very proud of what they have achieved. We are fortunate that we have a very dedicated teaching staff in the district who help young people to achieve their potential.

"They are supported by non-teaching staff, school governors, parents and the wider community in their efforts. I would like to pay tribute to everyone for their hard work.

"While we are very pleased with the achievements of our young people, we will continue our endeavours to provide them with a springboard to go onto university or start a career.

"Our priority will be to further improve standards in education for 14 to 19-year-olds in the district."

The tables also show record A-Level pass rates at Filton College, which beat all colleges within the Bristol region and exceeded the national average for points per entry.