STUDENTS in Darlington look likely to achieve the best A-level performance in the country, education bosses said last night.

Last year, Darlington was second in the country for the percentage of students achieving at least two A-levels at grades A to E - considered the benchmark to get into university.

This year, results have improved even further, including a nine per cent rise in the pass rate at Carmel RC Technology College, leading chiefs at Darlington Borough Council to predict the town will top the table.

Darlington regularly gains impressive A-level results, although the borough's performance at GCSE is not so good.

David Heaton, principal of Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, said yesterday that the disparity between GCSE and A-level performance in the town meant his college always scored very highly in national league tables.

Carmel achieved an overall pass rate of 97 per cent, compared with 88 per cent last year, and 81 per cent in 2003.

Meanwhile, a teenager who overcame great adversity to win a place at university was one of more than 1,500 students collecting their results in the town yesterday.

Helen Foster, 18, had to learn to read, write and walk at the age of 12 when she suffered brain damage after falling into a coma.

She was diagnosed with diabetes but had lost so much of her memory she had to go back to the basics she had learned in primary school.

Helen, from Wolsingham, County Durham, was one of the first people in the North-East to be fitted with an insulin pump to treat her condition.

Yesterday, she picked up her A-level results in double ICT and English Language from Queen Elizabeth and said: "I am very proud because no one ever thought I would come this far. I am really looking forward to university."

Next month, she will start at Sunderland University, where she will study computing. She hopes to become a computer programmer.

Helen's story was one of dozens to emerge yesterday. They included:

* Triplets Katie, Alison and Helen Prescott, 18, from Durham, achieved ten As at A-level between them to win places at medical school.

* Fatima Malik, 18, from Darlington, has vowed not to give up her ambition to become a doctor, after being rejected by four medical schools despite gaining top results.

* Ed Targett, 18, of Crook, County Durham, gained three A grades and has been selected to train as a Navy pilot.

* Nicola Smith, 18, from Billingham, near Stockton achieved five grade As and one of the top marks in the country in biology. She will now study medicine at Cambridge University.

* Daniel Fletcher, 18, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, who won a place at university despite having cystic fibrosis.

Nationally, the A-level pass rate rose to 96.2 per cent, the 23rd consecutive year the figure has increased. The numbers of students achieving A grades also increased, rising to 22.8 per cent.

North Yorkshire County Council said schools had reported the best set of results.

Cynthia Welbourn, county council's director of education, said: "There have been many happy scenes at schools and colleges right across North Yorkshire."

Durham County Council said it looked as if the overall pass rate for A-level students was again above the national average.

A spokesman said that based on known results, the pass rate was 98 per cent.

However, the authority said the most important statistic was the 91 per cent of all students who obtained at least two A to E grade passes.

Meanwhile, universities were being contacted by thousands of students keen to gain the remaining places on degree courses through the clearing process.

Durham University said that it had received more than 2,500 calls for 150 clearing places.

A spokesman for Newcastle University said: "The first call to our clearing hotline came in at 7.40am and between 50 and 60 staff have been dealing with a continuous stream of inquiries from hopeful students.

"By 4pm, only a handful of places were left in one or two subject areas, including science, engineering and music."

Teesside University received 1,250 calls and recorded almost 1,000 hits on its clearing website from 8.30am to 4pm.

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