SECONDARY pupils in a North-East county are making more progress at school than ever before, according to league tables.

National figures show that County Durham is ranked tenth out of 149 local authorities in the country for improvement in pupils’ attainment, based on value added scores.

These scores measure the amount of progress pupils make between the age of 11 and the time they sit their GCSEs, aged 16.

In County Durham, 15 out of 36 secondary schools are ranked in the top ten per cent nationally for their value added scores.

Five of these schools have value added scores that put them among the top 60 out of about 4,000 in the country.

They are Stanley School of Technology, Derwentside, Staindrop School Business and Enterprise College, King James I Community Arts College, Bishop Auckland, Parkside School, Willington, and Shotton Hall School, Peterlee.

Two of the schools in the top ten per cent nationally for their value added scores also saw more than 70 per cent of their pupils achieving five or more GCSEs, including English and maths, at grades A* to C.

They were Park View Community School, in Chester-le-Street, and St Bede’s Catholic School and Sixth Form College, in Lanchester.

At King James, an inhouse radio station, drama and video recordings play a part in raising achievement.

The school is ranked third in County Durham and 35th in the country, with a value added score of 1048.5.

Headteacher Steve Rodchester has seen the arts specialism awarded in 2005 improve results across the curriculum.

While pupils do well in drama, media studies and art, bringing expressive arts into teaching subjects such as maths and science has also raised achievement.

He said: “There are a number of factors, but there is no doubt that becoming a specialist college has had a tremendous impact.

“It affects our teaching and learning styles. We have our own radio station, KJFM, and we use videos in all subjects. Students enjoy learning and staff use the specialism in new ways of teaching.

“We have a rolling programme of professional development opportunities for staff and they are very interested.”

Councillor Claire Vasey, the council’s cabinet member for children and young people’s services, said: “This is the true measure of our schools’ success and is a wonderful recognition of the hard work and dedication that pupils, their families and their teachers have shown.

“We have seen a significant improvement in GCSE results in County Durham schools over the past six years.”

*Pictured, from left, Rebecca Lowes, 15, Ross Kitching, 15, Carl Dobson, 15, Beth Dixon, 16, Jill Young, 16 and Thomas Wales, 15, celebrate their school’s success with headteacher Steve Rodchester