FIVE County Durham schools have been praised in a list of the country's most improved schools at GCSE.

In Bishop Auckland, Bishop Barrington School and King James I made the list, and St Bede's Catholic School, in Lanchester, and Durham Johnston Comprehensive School and Durham Gilesgate Sports College, both Durham City, were also named by the Government as some of the most improved schools in England.

This year, the list recognises schools that have improved consistently each year from 2003 to 2006, especially in maths and English.

Bruce Guthrie, headteacher at Bishop Barrington, said: "We have always had a big focus on maths and English because those are the subjects children need when they leave to have real life chances.

"We are really pleased to be in this list and it is down to a lot of hard work by the kids and staff."

Mr Guthrie said that over the past four years the number of children leaving with at least five A* to C grades had doubled. This year, 55 per cent achieved this benchmark.

In the league table of local authorities' GCSE performance, Darlington achieved the second- best performance in the North-East, ranking 64th out of 150, just beaten by Gateshead, which ranked 63rd.

This list ranks authorities on the proportion of pupils achieving at least five A* to C grades including maths and English.

Darlington's place in the list was a considerable achievement, as the borough achieved good results despite Eastbourne School's dire performance.

Yesterday, Margaret Asquith, the head of children's services at Darlington Borough Council, said: "We are the best performing authority in the Tees Valley.

"We are very pleased, but we are not complacent. This borough could do a lot better and this is what all the headteachers want."

In the GCSE league table, out of the 150 local authorities, County Durham came 96th, North Yorkshire 16th, Stockton 88th, Redcar and Cleveland 99th, Hartlepool 114th, and Middlesbrough 143rd.

Dyke House Comprehensive School, in Hartlepool, was named as one of the top 20 most effective schools in England.

Also making the longer list of "most effective" schools, in descending order from best, were: Bishopsgarth School, Stockton; Kenton School, Newcastle; Macmillan Academy, Middlesbrough; Edmund Campion RC School and Emmanuel College, both Gateshead.