Pupils in Sandwell are celebrating after schools recorded the borough’s best ever GCSE results. The results have shown that many of the schools smashed through the national average level for A* to C five or more passes, including English and Maths.

They have shown that Sandwell is continuing its year-on-year upward trend.

Cabinet member for children and families Councillor Bob Badham said: “These are really pleasing and, in some cases, excellent results, and clearly reflect the hard work that is being put in by our schools, pupils and education staff at the council.

“It is another reason more people are moving to Sandwell because the realise we have good quality schools.”

At the Q3 Academy in Great Barr, they saw the overall pass rate of pupils gaining five or more A* to C grades, including English and Maths, shoot up 10 per cent to 76 per cent.

At Wood Green Academy in Wednesbury, pupils recorded what associate head James Topping said was an “unbelievable” set of results.

Pupils notched up a 70 per cent pass rate at five or more passes at A* to C including English and Maths. It was a massive jump from 59 per cent last year. The national average figure last year was 58 per cent.

English and Maths. The level of pupils gaining five or more A* to C passes was even higher at 83 per cent.

Last week Sandwell pupils achieved a bumper crop of A level passes and last month it was revealed that in provisional figures released, primary children notched up the borough’s best ever results in exam tests for 11 year olds.

This comes on the back of Sandwell being rated the fourth most improved authority in the Key Stage 2 tests last year.

In the provisional figures more Sandwell children than ever have now reached the expected level in both English and Maths.

At more than a five per cent increase, the improvement in results is also the biggest year-on-year improvement ever recorded for Sandwell primary schools.

And education chiefs expect that when results are published by the DFE in September, it will show that the results are more than four per cent above last year’s national average.