THE number of students leaving schools in Bolton with a good set of GCSE results fell – but the pass rate remains above the national average, official figures show.

More than half of schools failed to post an increase in the percentage of year 11 pupils gaining five or more A* to C GCSE results including English and maths, with some seeing a dramatic fall in their results — with two schools amongst the 282 under-performing schools in the country.

But some schools bucked the trend and celebrated a rise in the numbers gaining the benchmark standard.

To see how your child's school performed, click this link

SCHOOL RESULTS GCSE JAN 2017 BOLTON.pdf

The performance of every school in the last summer’s GCSEs have been released by the department for education in its annual "league tables".

Overall in Bolton, 54 per cent of teenagers left school with five or more good GCSEs including the core subjects. This is compared to 56.8 per cent the year before.

The national average stood at 53.5 per cent.

And Bolton also posted a below national average score of the Government new progress 8, which measures the progress a pupil makes from the end of primary school to the end of secondary school. Bolton score was - 0.20, and -0.24 to - 0.16 is considered below national average.

A Bolton Council spokesman said: "While the overall results are disappointing, we are in line with the national average and some schools have seen some fantastic achievements.

"The way GCSEs are measured has changed and we know that schools take these results seriously, and are committed and working extremely hard to make future improvements."

Bolton School girls’ division maintained its standing as the borough’s number one school, with 98 per cent of its pupils leaving with the five or more good GCSEs including English and maths, this was slightly down on its perfect 100 per cent the previous summer.

It’s English Baccalaureate results were the best in the borough with 90 per cent of girls achieving the Government’s performance measure which is awarded when pupils secure a grade C or above across five academic subjects, including English, maths, history or geography, the sciences and a language.

Headmistress Sue Hincks said: "I am delighted that the girls’ outstanding GCSE results have once again put the Girls’ Division at the top of the local league table – this position is a reward for all their hard work and the dedication of their teachers.

"Many girls have also achieved the ‘EBacc’, which recognises the academic quality and range of subjects which they studied. It is a pleasure to work with such talented students and we as staff do our utmost to bring out the best in every girl, both academically and through a tremendous number of extra-curricular and enrichment activities."

The best performing state school was Bolton Muslim Girls School, where 82 per cent left achieving the standard. The result was down by one per cent compared to the year before.

The school also posted the best English Baccalaureate results within Bolton’s state schools, with 61 per cent achieving the new measure.

The school has around 35 to 40 per cent of pupils from areas of deprivation. The school's progress 8 measure of 0.75 was well above national average, which is between 0.55 to 0.96.

Headteacher Idrish Patel said: "These results give the girls a 'visa' to good colleges and universities. It is the perfect take off for them to have successful lives."

He added: "This the result of excellent teamwork involving parents, staff, students, governors, trustees and the local authority and local schools."

Schools which posted a huge increase included Rivington and Blackrod, with results soaring from 51 per cent in 2015 to 61 per cent of teenagers last summer achieving the standard.

Ladybridge High School increased its pass rate to have more than half of its pupils achieving the required grades.

Thornleigh Salesian College celebrated amongst the best results in the borough after the percentage increased from 67 per cent to 75 per cent.

Alison Burrowes, headteacher of Thornleigh Salesian College, said:"This set of results demonstrates the individual care, nurturing and support that each child gets here to enable them to achieve their very best.

"We are especially delighted to celebrate the exceptional progress made by all our students in the five years that they are with us to GCSE level and that they continue to make in the sixth form. I am so grateful for the sheer hard work, commitment and dedication of all the staff in the school.

"Together with our parents, we have worked tirelessly to secure these results and we are very proud of the achievements of all our students."

Exams results dipped dramatically at a number of schools

Mount St Joseph in Farnworth experienced the biggest decline with results falling from 69 per cent to 45 per cent, a fall of 24 per cent.

Kearsley Academy and Bolton St Catherine's Academy results put them in the 282 secondary schools in England found to be under-performing falling below the new Government floor target that measures pupils' progress and achievement over eight GCSE subjects.

At Kearsley Academy the results fell by 18 per cent to 28 per cent.

Ian Kershaw, chief executive of Northern Education Trust which sponsors Kearsley Academy, said: "The 2016 examination results at Kearsley gave the academy governors and the Trust some very serious concerns and, as a result, the Trust commissioned a review of performance outcomes.

"It was clear that the major contributing factor was the collapse in expected GCSE results in mathematics.

"The academy has appointed a new head of the mathematics department and as a result improvements in the teaching of the subject have been confirmed in a recent review.

"The Trust has also appointed an Interim Executive Principal, Gavin Salvesen-Sawh, to lead and oversee the rapid improvement required."

Mr Salvesen-Sawh added: " I am now confident with the new leader of Mathematics, who is highly experienced and the addition of new specialist mathematics staff, the Academy will now start to make the desired level of performance in mathematics this year."

At Bolton St Catherine’s Academy 17 per cent of pupils left the school having achieving the five or more good GCSEs compared to 30 per cent in 2015, making it the lowest performing state school.

Richard Senior, Interim Principal at Bolton St Catherine's Academy, said: "The five A*-C measure is no longer used by the department for measuring how well schools are doing.

"The new measure of Progress 8, which measures how well students do compared to their starting point, shows we have some work to do, but that we are improving.

"We continue to work hard on this, and have already secured help from St James’s CE High School which has an outstanding reputation for improving standards. We will continue to develop the mind set and culture within the academy so that every member of our community, students and staff, strive hard to make progress, taking immense pride in their effort and work."