CLASSMATES have proved they have some of the best brains in Britain, after scoring three of the country's top five marks in GCSE English.

The three pupils, Laura Warwick, Rachael Barnwell and Mark Atwill, were all in the same Year 11 English class at Park View School in Chester-le-Street last year.

Their teacher, Monica Loughlin, knew she had some talented students in her class, as virtually all of them achieved A or A* grades in their GCSE.

But everyone was taken aback when the AQA examining board informed the school that the marks awarded to three pupils in her class were among the top five awarded to the 380,000 students who took the English Literature GCSE. The classmates are all now in the school's sixth form.

Teacher John Anderson, who was the students' head of year at the time and now head of the sixth form, said: "It was a strong year group and the kids worked very hard and now they've just pulled it out the bag."

The marks are awarded on the basis of the five course work essays submitted and three two-hour exams.