GIRLS from Darlington's Polam Hall School are celebrating exceptional grades for their GCSE results.

Among the school's high achievers were 16-year-old Helen Earle, from Bolton-on-Swale, North Yorkshire, who was awarded ten A* grades and two A grades.

Hannah Elliott, from Darlington, gained ten A* grades and one A grade.

The school recorded an 87 per cent success rate for grades A* to C, above the national average, with 41 per cent of pupils achieving A* and A grades.

Headmistress Helen Hamilton said: "I would like to congratulate all of the girls here at Polam for attaining excellent results.

"Our overall results are 30 per cent above the national average and are an obvious reflection of the dedication and hard-work shown by both pupils and staff."

Polam Hall School, Darlington

(Passes at grades A*-G)

A Adams10; E Askew 10; E Bennett-Newens 9; H Bradley 9; S Burns 9;

S Catterick 11; A Chan 9; W Chan 8; M Cowan 9; R Davies 11; R Dicken Prince 11; L Dunning 11; H Earle 12; H Elliott 11; J Fan 9; V Fenton 11; B Foster 11; B Ginnett 11; L Grainge 10; C Hopkins 11; K Kan 9; A Lineton 11; V Massey 10; C Metcalfe 9; R Newsome 11; A Parkin 12; J Pearson 11; S Penman 10; F Poon 9; L Raw 11; S Raw 11; J Solomon 11; M Tawiah 7; EJ Thirkell 11; K Watson 11; S Wittrick 11; S Wong 5; N Yu 7.