THE top performing schools in the region have been revealed and a North-East school has been crowned Comprehensive School of the Year.

The Parent Power Sunday Times Schools Guide identifies the 2,000 highest-achieving schools in the UK, ranked by their recent examination results.

Durham Johnston Comprehensive School has been named The Sunday Times Comprehensive School of the Year and Teesdale School has also won the North-East State Secondary School of the Year award.

Alastair McCall, editor of Parent Power, said: “Barely 50 grammar schools achieved better A-level results than Durham Johnston last summer, a beacon of educational excellence and a flag bearer for the comprehensive school ideal.

"The best sixth-form results in the school’s history this summer saw more than half the A-levels taken secure A* or A grades and 56 children gain AAA or better.

“It is little wonder that it recruits at sixth form from across County Durham from both the state and the independent sector, while its intake at 11 from the immediate local area is socially mixed and covers a broad academic range. Children do well at GCSE and most stay on to sixth form.

"Outstanding sport and music, plus a wealth of other outside activities led by committed staff mean this is no examination factory. There is a strong commitment to social justice and tolerance that help make Durham Johnston the standout state school in the northeast and one of the very best in country.”

The Sunday Times Schools Guide 2020 will be published in The Sunday Times and online this Sunday, November 24. Go to www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/parentpower