A SCHOOL was named yesterday as the top independent in the region, as the Sunday Times published its league tables.

Central Newcastle High School was also ranked 47th nationally.

Newcastle's Royal Grammar School was placed 69th, St Peter's School, York, was ranked 103rd and Durham High School for Girls 136th.

Also coming in the top half of the table were Harrogate Ladies' College, in North Yorkshire, at 140th, Polam Hall School, Darlington, at 193rd, and Teesside High School, Stockton, at 210th.

Further down in the top 500 independent schools were Ampleforth College, near York, at 254th, Yarm School, near Stockton, at 256th, Durham School at 355th and Barnard Castle School at 358th, a drop of 100 places from last year.

Sunderland High School was ranked 383th, a significant improvement on last year's place in the table.

Independent schools had "scaled new heights" this year, the newspaper said.

The number of independent schools in which more than 90 per cent of A-level passes were As or Bs rose by almost 50 per cent, from 17 to 25 nationally.

The national rankings in the league table are determined by the percentage of A and B grades obtained at A-level and the percentage of A* and A grades gained at GCSE.