GCSE results climb to new peak

The borough's pupils had their most successful GCSE results ever in 2007 according to the Government's league tables.

The results, out today, show that the overall improvement in GCSE success since 2006 was over five times greater than the national average. This meant there was a big increase in the percentage of the borough's pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 gaining five or more A* - C grades with 55.9% reaching this standard compared to 50.3% last time round.

The percentage of these pupils who got five or more GCSE's including English and maths also grew sharply, from 37.1% in 2006 to 41.9% in 2007. This improvement meant that the borough improved seven times faster than the national average.

It means that more young people than ever are leaving the borough's schools with better opportunities for the future thanks to the qualifications they have achieved.

The Council's cabinet member for children, schools and families, Councillor Irene Davidson said: "Everyone in the borough should be proud of the success of our young people in their GCSE's. Improving the attainment of our students is a key council priority and critical to their long-term life chances and the prosperity of the borough. These results show that the hard work and effort put in by our students, their parents and our staff is being rewarded.

"Although we are very pleased with the results, there is still a way to go and we are not complacent. Keeping this level of improvement going will be a tough task but the council will be doing all it can to continue to support pupils and teachers in the classroom and to help give our young people the best possible start in life."

The borough's schools also performed better than the national average on the Government's 'value added' yardstick. This measure of school performance attempts to take account of the fact that schools do not start on a level playing field because differences in prosperity influence pupil attainment.

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Heywood Township

• Siddal Moor Sports College performed exceptionally with the percentage of pupils getting 5 or more A-C's increasing by 55% to 70%.
• Heywood Community School's results held up well in the face of imminent closure, with the percentage of pupils getting 5 or more A-C's increasing by 5%.
• The league tables did not include the results for St Joseph's as it has re-opened as the Holy Family School. But the results were very good anyway.

Middleton Township

• The results for Middleton Technology School were very good as usual with the percentage of pupils getting 5 or more A-C's increasing by 3 percentage points to 83% overall. The school is also the 26th in the country in terms of value added.
• Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School increased the percentage of pupils getting 5 or more A-C's by 7 percentage points to 64%.
• The biggest improvement was at the Queen Elizabeth School now the St Ann's Academy. But the Academy is not in the table.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families have a policy that schools which closed or are re-designated; are not included in Performance Tables.