SCHOOLS in a North-East town have come top in the North-East for improving standards - and have won nearly £400,000.

Staff at 40 schools, close to half of the schools in Gateshead, have been given the Government's Achievement Award, to mark improved test results or for outperforming similar schools across the UK.

On average, less than a third of schools in other local authorities received an award.

School Standards Minister David Miliband said: "Success in Gateshead's schools depends on each and every member of staff working together to raise standards.

"It is right to reward the staff whose work helps pupils to learn, and these awards celebrate their achievements."

Councillor John McElroy, the authority's cabinet member for learning and culture, said: "Gateshead Borough Council and its schools will constantly strive to secure even further improvement during the next year, and in years to come."

The awards are worth about £5,700 for a typical primary school and £25,700 for a secondary school. They are given where pupil performance was substantially better than in 1999, or where performance last year was better than most other schools in similar circumstances.

They cap a successful recent spell for Gateshead's schools, which had the best GCSE and Sats results in the region this year, for the second year running.