GCSE results have improved across the North, figures released yesterday show.

Provisional figures from the Department for Education and Skills show that students in Stockton have made the biggest improvement in the country for the numbers gaining five or more GCSEs at A*-C grade.

Last year, 45.8 per cent of pupils in Stockton achieved five good passes at GCSE.

This year, the figure has risen to 54.6 per cent. The figure represents an 8.8 per cent improvement, the best in the country, and a total rise of 15.7 per cent since 1997.

Nationally, the average rose by two per cent to 55.7 per cent making the grade.

Celebrating the turnaround in fortunes, Councillor Alex Cunningham, of Stockton Borough Council, said: "No-one can underestimate the hard and comprehensive work put in by our teachers, support staff and the education service to drive up standards.

"The result is improved life chances for our young people and I am extremely proud of their success.

"We must now maintain the high levels of investment in education in recent years and continue to collect the dividend for our young people."

Secretary of State for Education Ruth Kelly congratulated the schools, teachers and pupils on the huge rise in the numbers of young people achieving good grades.

She said: "The results mirror the national picture, where this year we have seen the biggest single jump in achievement for over a decade, along with increases in the number achieving highly in the key subjects of English and maths."

Performance in Gateshead schools fell from 62.2 per cent last year to 59.7 per cent this year.

Despite the drop, the authority still produced the best-performing students in the region.

The council's head of raising achievement, Paul Carvin, said: "Gateshead's schools have achieved significant success in recent years and continue to do so.

"The Department for Education and Skills has indicated that the figures released yesterday are provisional and incomplete. Once all the figures are in, we expect there to be an improvement on last year's results."

Among other successes are students in Darlington, whose results by rose more than seven per cent, and Middlesbrough, where results went up by more than four per cent.

Redcar and Cleveland experienced a slight drop in performance, and North Tyneside students' grades were 0.2 per cent worse than last year.

Figures were unavailable for North Yorkshire.