THERE were plenty of smiling faces at the Grange School in Hartford.

A quarter of the year group gained straight A* or A grades and some 80 per cent gained A or B grades.

Overall results at GCSE missed the all-time school record by a mere one per cent.

Head teacher Jenny Stephen said: "The under-performance of boys seems to be an obsession at present.

"Our pupils did exceptionally well this year - and yet again there was no appreciable difference between the performance of boys and girls."

She added: "I think we prove co-education works academically."

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