A PROUD high school head has been given the best possible leaving present from his pupils -- a set of 'amazing' exam results.

A delighted John Lawson, who finishes Southlands High, Chorley, to take over at Smithills School, Bolton, after the summer term, said: "They are superb results, the best ever."

Southlands' talented pupils registered a 63 per cent pass rate for five grade A*-C this year -- a record for the school since GCSEs started in 1988.

He added: "It is a wonderful send off, a considerable improvement on the good results of last year. It's amazing.

"The whole school is absolutely delighted. It is better than we could have dreamed. It reflects all the hard work put in by everybody."

One star pupil, William Unsworth, broke school records with his stunning haul -- 10 A*, an A and a B.

And Southlands bucked the current gender trend with an almost even split between boys and girls of 62 per and 64 per cent respectively.

An equally delighted Jean McGrath, head teacher at Parklands High, revealed the school had recorded its second best ever set of results.

She said: "The pupils have worked very hard and the staff have worked very hard with them, so it is congratulations to all of them."

She revealed that Parklands had also bucked the gender trend -- out of the top 50 performing pupils the split was equal between boys and girls. She added: "There were a significant number of eight nine and 10 A* pupils across the board and pupils at all levels have exceeded themselves."

High schools throughout Chorley were celebrating their exam successes.

Hazel Harding, chairman of Lancashire County Council's education and cultural services committee, said: "I would like to congratulate all our young men and women who have worked hard for their success.

"Nationally a record number of pupils received A*-C grades, an increase of almost one per cent to 56.6 per cent and on the evidence of previous years, Lancashire pupils will match or exceed this trend.

"A great deal of attention has been given countrywide to the growing gender gap in performance but we must not forget that the achievement of both boys and girls is rising across the board.

"In Lancashire we are concerned to see that every child has the opportunities they need to achieve their full potential."