BEST ever GCSE results were celebrated at Upton-by-Chester High School this morning with 78% of students gaining five A* to C grades.

A total of 68% received five A* to C grades including maths and English.

Headteacher, Jane Holland, said: “‘I am thrilled for our students and for our staff.

“This is a wonderful outcome, a just reward for all their hard work.

“These are our best ever results by a significant margin and it means that the measures we have put in place in recent years are making an impact.

“There has been excellent leadership from middle managers who are maximising routes to success through innovations in the curriculum and in its delivery.

“The creative use of data to challenge and encourage students is also an important feature.

“With more developments in the pipeline, the future looks very exciting.”

The school’s science results have improved on last year while the proportion gaining at least one language at grade C also increased.

Topping the scores was Alex Andrews with eight A* grades and four A grades while nine pupils scored straight A* and As: Sam Addison, Alix Brown, Michael Davies, Vanessa Ellis, Dominic Liddell-Crewe, Megan Lipscombe, David Thompson, Bill Webb and George Welsh.

100% passed art with an A* to C grade with 38% receiving A* and A.

ICT delivered a combination of courses and students attained excellent results in all permutations with 100% pass rate at C and above and a high proportion of top grades. Maths achieved an A* to C pass rate of 78% with around a third of students attaining A* and A grades.

In modern languages pass rates were 91% in German, 90% in French and 86% in Spanish along with A*s in Russian, Chinese and Bengali, an A in Polish and FCSE grades in Mandarin for five year 11 students.