HURWORTH School has come out top in the latest school performance tables for Darlington and County Durham.

Using new value added indicators, which measure how well each pupil has progressed through senior school, Hurworth School beat off competition in the key stage three to GCSE tables.

Starting with a score of 100, a school can rise above or fall below the tally depending on how well its pupils performed overall. A score of 100.3, rated Hurworth the top school in County Durham. Carmel Technology College came second in the borough with 99.2, while Hummersknott School was third with 97.6.

For key stage two to key stage three, Hurworth's score was again top among all Darlington schools with 100.9, just beating Carmel College's 100.8 and Hummersknott's 99.6.

Across the county, the score placed them third

Head teacher Eamonn Farrar, was delighted with the school's performance and paid tribute to his teaching staff and all his pupils.

He said: "The scheme includes every child in the school and not just the bright ones so it shows the value added to every one of those children."

Up to now, schools had only been rated on the number of pupils achieving five GCSEs graded A-C.

"Schools have been crying out for this system of calculating performance for years," added Mr Farrar.

"Under the old system some schools will inevitably reach a higher proportion of pupils passing five GCSE's or more. Schools like Hummersknott would always get better scores than, say, Eastbourne."