A NORTH-EAST town has topped a series of nationwide school league tables.

Darlington was ranked first in the country for the percentage of pupils who have achieved A* to C grades in their GCSEs with and without maths and English.

According to the figures published by the Department for Education, Darlington also tops the list of 151 local authorities with the highest improvement rate for pupils getting A* to C grades, again with and without maths and English.

Elsewhere in the region, pupils from Middlesbrough showed the lowest level of improvement for achieving five A* to C grades including maths and English nationally.

Cyndi Hughes, Darlington Borough Council’s cabinet member for children and young people, said: “To be top of the national exam league table comes as a result of the hard work and dedication of our young people, their families and their teachers.

“What makes Darlington schools so successful is their willingness to collaborate to ensure that every child gets the best possible start in life.

“We have many outstanding school leaders and I am sure that they will continue to build on this achievement.”

Individual schools in Darlington have also shown enormous improvements, with the Darlington School of Maths and Science seeing a 44.1 per cent increase in the number of their pupils achieving A* to C and a 15.6 per cent rise in those who are achieving that benchmark with English and maths.

Carmel RC College even found room for a 1.7 per cent improvement on its high results from 2010. This year they managed to get 99.4 per cent of their pupils through their GCSEs with at least five A* to Cs with 88.6 per cent of those obtaining the grades with English and maths.

The headteacher of Darlington School of Maths and Science, formerly Branksome School, Calvin Kipling said: “We have seen a real turnaround in the school and the attitude of our pupils. There is a great vibe in the place as pupils’ aspirations rise ever higher.

We have achieved these remarkable improvements through a number of methods which we will continue to use. The dream is a 100 per cent pass rate and we feel we are well on track for that.”

Darlington came fourth out of the 151 authorities for pupils showing improvements in English between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4.