THE number of pupils gaining the highest GCSE grades has increased considerably in Bolton despite only a small rise nationally.

School performance league tables reveal that the number of candidates gaining five A-C grades was 45.4 per cent, compared with 42.3 per cent last year.

However, there was only a small increase nationally from 49.2 per cent to 50 per cent.

Bolton's figures also surpassed the national average for the number of pupils gaining five grades A-G by 1.6 per cent. A total of 90.5 per cent of Bolton pupils gained five A-G grades compared to 88.9 per cent nationally.

Both Withins School and the Deane School have made considerable progress with their GSCE results showing a marked improvement this summer.

The number of pupils gaining at least five A-C grades at Withins jumped from 11 per cent last year to 20 per cent this year.

A total of 26 per cent of pupils at Deane School achieved A-C grades in contrast to 18 per cent last year.

Bolton Council's Deputy Director of Education, Brian Shaw, was generally pleased with this year's league tables which reflected the hard work of staff and pupils.

He said: "The results are very positive. But the news is fantastic for Withins, Deane and St Joseph's in Horwich which have shown marked improvements in their GCSE results.

"Pupils at Withins and Deane have both knuckled down and worked hard and I think the special sports status awarded to St Joseph's has made everyone enthusiastic."

Executive Member for Education at Bolton Council, Cllr Linda Thomas, said: "Congratulations to everybody for raising the standards." Even at schools where results were lower last year, their results have increased quite considerably. "I think we have statistics we can work on even further for next year.

"A lot of work has gone into fighting truancy in Bolton with all sorts of initiatives over the past year." Bolton School's Boys and Girls divisions topped both the A Level and GCSE tables with 99 per cent of boys achieving at least five GCSE grades A-C compared to 98 per cent of the girls.

The A Levels tables proved to be a contentious issue as it was impossible to compare this year's results with previous figures after a change in approach to collating the information.

This year's table shows combined A, AS and Advanced GNVQ point scores as opposed to the average points score of candidates entering two or more A Levels which was the basis for results in previous years.