COUNCILLOR DELIGHTED BY 'BEST EVER' GCSE RESULTS

12.00.00am GMT Thu 15th Jan 2009

Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Children and Young People's Services, Councillor Carol Runciman has welcomed the news that students at York's secondary schools have achieved their best ever results.

Figures published today by the Department for Children, Schools and Families show further improvement in Key Stage 4 results at schools across the city.

68.5% of young people in York achieved five or more A* to C grades, an improvement of 1 percentage point compared to 2007. The percentage of pupils gaining five or more A*-C grades, including English and Maths, is 54%.

Councillor Runciman congratulated the students and their teachers on the results, saying; "These results are a testament to the hard work of the students and teachers at all our schools."

"I am very pleased to see how successful our schools have been in the 'value added' measures. These show the progress children have made over a period of time and are a very important indicator of sustained progress by the students and the staff with support from parents at home. It is good to know that so many schools have done so well."

"We have an excellent record on education in York and I hope we can continue to build on this success in the future."