SCHOOLS in Cleveland were celebrating yesterday as GCSE pass rates increased, bucking the national trend.

Teesside High School pupils smiled as they opened their results after achieving a 100pc pass rate at grades A* to C, an increase on last year. The number of A* and A grades was also up at 51.3pc.

Straight A-grade students included Alison Butler, from Ingleby Barwick, who passed 11 subjects; Ailsa Redhouse, from Stokesley, with seven A* grades and three A grades; and Jenny Taylor, from Northallerton, gained two A* passes and eight A grades.

Fourteen students also celebrated passing their drama exams a year early, a record achievement for the school.

Pupils at Yarm School achieved 17.4pc in A* passes, breaking the school's record and the number of passes per pupil was also up by 9.7pc.

Forty eight pupils gained ten or more passes with everyone passing maths and English.

Kartik Logishetty completed the academic year on a high by gaining 11 A* grades. He had previously won the Duke of York's award for the most creative and imaginative project, at the Young Electronic Designers of 2003.

At Conyers School, in Yarm, head teacher John Morgan said: "The results are fantastic, the best ever. The results are a great reward for a hard-working bunch of kids. They have matched our record breaking A-level scores of last week."

More then 73pc of pupils at the school achieved five A* to C grades. Christopher Cant gained nine A* grades and one A grade and Kathryn Saddle achieved seven A* and three A grades.

For the third consecutive year, more than 70pc of pupils at Egglescliffe School achieved five or more A to C grades; 63pc of students gained seven A* to C passes and 69pc gained six A* to C grades.

Head teacher Angela Darnell said: "I'm very proud of such a consistently high level of achievement across all subjects year on year. It demonstrates the high quality of teaching and learning in the school and reflects the hard work of pupils and teachers."

Sarah Bailey gained an A* in GCSE dance, pushing her total to 12 A* and one A grade.

At Stokesley School, there was a 3pc increase of A* to C grades from the previous year.

Head teacher Norman Corner said: "We've achieved 74.3pc at grades A* to C. All pupils achieved at least one GCSE and we had 98pc A* to G grades.

"We are very pleased at the standards achieved by all the pupils in all subjects and at all levels. They have worked very hard this year.

"An outstanding achievement was made by Christopher Dale with ten A* grades and a distinction in IT at GNVQ intermediate level."

Rebecca Baxter, 16, of Ryehills School, Redcar, was the school's top performer, gaining nine A*s, and also earned national praise for her marks in GCSE double award science which put her in the top five out of more than 207,000 entrants.

She received a letter of congratulations from Kathleen Tattersall, director general of the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance.