FORMER England and Newcastle United player, Peter Beardsley, has helped a school to celebrate exam success.

He was the guest when Easington Community School, in east Durham, held its awards evening on Friday, and marked the achievements of its students in last summer's GCSE exams.

The school achieved its best exam results, with just under half of its pupils, 45 per cent, achieving five or more GCSEs, which is a 15 per cent improvement on last year.