SCHOOLS across Warrington have been bucking the national trend by producing their best-ever GCSE results.

Students, staff and families were left celebrating or commiserating on Thursday as the results were announced and head teachers across the borough paid tribute to the hard work of their students.

And among the top achieving schools were William Beamont High School, where the number of pupils achieving five or more A* to C grades doubled on last year, and both Padgate High School and Penketh High where there was a 13 per cent rise and best ever results.

Head teacher of William Beamont High School John O'Callaghan said: "This has been a record year for the school. The number of students passing their GCSEs has doubled from this time last year. I am absolutely ecstatic."

Tony Bradshaw, chairman of governors at Padgate High where 99 per cent of pupils passed at least one GCSE, said: "This is excellent news for everyone connected with Padgate, these results reflect the high quality of teaching and learning at the school."

There was also reason to cheer at Bridgewater High School where head teacher Christopher Marks said the boys at the school have been closing the gap on the girls.

And at Penketh High School, youngsters achieved the best results for the school with a 13 per cent rise.

Clr David Keane, executive member for education, said he was hopeful that the trend of beating the national average would continue this year.

"There is a lot of detailed analysis of this year's GCSE results to be done, which is used to help schools evaluate their performance and to set challenging targets for future years," he said.