STAFF and pupils at schools throughout Bolton have worked extremely hard over the past year.

Congratulations must obviously go to the likes of Bolton School's girls division, which is the town's top performer in the new school league tables, while Canon Slade is number one when it comes to state schools.

These schools regularly perform well and have the structure and finances to ensure their pupils pass as many exams as possible.

Just as important though are the achievements of less well-off schools, who are working in difficult circumstances towards turning round their fortunes.

Mount St Joseph school in Farnworth showed a massive improvement in its GCSE league table placing, moving up to eighth from last year's bottom five placing.

At Withins School in Breightmet a new head of maths and an advanced English skills teacher has resulted in huge increases in pass rates, moving the school from bottom to 17th in the league table. Equally, Withins School has moved up 10 places in the table.

These successes are just reward for the dedication and hard work of all pupils and staff.

On the downside, teenagers in Bolton are still falling below the national average. But we must remember that league tables do not tell the whole story. Figures show the percentage of pupils who have passed five or more GCSEs has actually risen to a high of 58 per cent.

Less emphasis should be placed on league tables and more focus should be given to the performance of schools in turning pupils into rounded individuals, not just teenagers capable of passing exams.

Obviously, it is good to be placed high in a league table, but such means of measuring results often give a false impression, and schools in Bolton should be proud of their performance this year.