STAFF and pupils at Smithills School were named as one of the schools nationally to have maintained an improvement in their GCSE results every year since 1999.

Secondary school league tables published today show that 45 per cent of pupils at the school in Smithills Dean Road achieved five A* to C grades last summer.

In 1999, just 30 per cent of the comprehensive school's students achieved those grades.

The performance at Smithills is part of a picture of local improvement in exam results.