STUDENTS in Hammersmith and Fulham celebrated maintaining top GCSE grades for another year and bucking a nationwide drop of 1.3 per cent. 

Sixty-six per cent of the 1,155 pupils sitting exams in the borough’s schools achieved five or more A*-C grades including English and maths. This was the same as last year and well above the national average of 59 per cent.

Provisional results showed that the biggest improvement came from Burlington Danes Academy, Shepherd’s Bush, where the number of teenagers getting five or more A*-C grades rose by a tenth to 76 per cent. 

The highest overall achievers were at Sacred Heart High School in Hammersmith, where 91 per cent of the girls achieved five A*-C grades, including in English and maths.

They also improved by two per cent in the English Baccalaureate, known as the EBacc, with 57 per cent of students achieving A*-Cs in traditional core academic subjects of English, history or geography, two sciences, maths and a language.

There were also notable improvements in the number of people getting five GCSEs at A*-C including English and maths for Fulham schools Lady Margaret – which went up 8 per cent from last year’s results to 80 per cent - and Fulham College Boys’ School, going up 7 per cent from last year to 60 per cent.

Councillor Greg Smith, deputy council leader, said: “There are some incredible success stories once again this year and the students, their families and teachers should be very proud of their achievements. The borough figures are strong and our schools have put in solid performances. Even when the national pass rate has provisionally fallen, Hammersmith and Fulham continues to surpass last year’s national average, with the majority of our schools posting improved results.”