A BOLTON school has come close to its own record breaking year as it celebrates an astounding set of A and AS-Level results.

And Stephen Brierley, examinations officer at Canon Slade, admits that it has been difficult to contain their joy at the school which has seen 95 per cent of their 137 A-Level students come away with passes.

Canon Slade enjoyed its best ever A Level results in 1998 and it is so far unclear whether this year's will go better because of possible appeals.

"It's fair to say we are absolutely delighted with the results," he said. "At times like this everyone always pays tribute to the hard work of the pupils and staff but I think it is important to do this because everyone has done so well.

"Our record year for results was 1998 and while we are still looking at the information we look like we could be very close to it in terms of success."

Mr Brierley said that while they were still analysing the results in detail there seemed to be some notable achievements.

"We have had a number of pupils with four grade As and we believe two of the pupils have secured places at Oxford university," he said.

And he added that the newly introduced AS-Level, which the school has decided to award certificates for after the first year, was working well with lower Sixth form pupils.

"Our AS-Level results with Year 12 are excellent possibly better than Year 13 which shows we must be barking up the right tree," he said. "The beauty of the new systems means the pupils in Year 12 can now take stock of what they have done so far and decided which courses they want to continue."

And when it comes to the social sciences two Canon Slade students have proved that they are simply among the best there is.

Sixth formers Helen Blunsdon and Caroline Jackson, both aged 18, have been hailed among the top five students in the country in one of their A-Level subjects.

Helen placed among the country's highest in Economic and Social History while Caroline took to the top in Sociology with their exam board the AQA.

Head of history John Aldred said the school was justly proud of the two girls' achievements.

"The girls have done exceptionally well and it is a testament to their hard work," he said. "Grades such as these are not unique at the school but it is a tremendous achievement."

For the future Helen now heads for degree course honours at Warwick University while Caroline is bound for Sheffield University.