Results show drop in number of National Challenge schools

More than half of pupils in state schools got five or more A*-C GCSEs including English and maths – a two and a half per cent improvement on last year’s results.

Girls continued to outperform boys, with 54.4 per cent of girls achieving five or more grades A*-C compared with 47.1 per cent of boys.

London schools performed best in England, with 54 per cent of pupils getting five good GCSEs including English and maths.

Schools with the most pupils eligible for free schools meals saw the biggest rise in attainment in the number of students gaining five good GCSEs.

Those in the most deprived areas improved by 27 per cent between 1999 and 2009, compared with schools in the most affluent areas, which improved by 11 per cent in the same period.

Schools minister Vernon Coaker congratulated schools and pupils on their performance.

He said: "Thanks to record investment in teachers and schools, coupled with the hard work of pupils, teachers and schools, the improvement in standards means that since 1997, over 600,000 more students have left school with at least five good GCSEs.

"I am determined that each and every child gets a world-class education regardless of their background, and for that we need excellent schools. We now have the highest number of top-performing schools and the fewest low-performing schools ever."

But shadow children’s secretary Michael Gove warned that the gap between the richest 10 per cent and poorest 10 per cent of pupils achieving five good GCSEs including English and maths has actually risen by a fifth.

"There are far too many schools that are not making the required levels of progress and the gap between rich and poor continues to get worse," he said.

"We want to close the educational gap between the fortunate few and the rest. That’s why we’ve outlined plans to improve the quality of teaching, give heads proper powers to crack down on bad behaviour and allow educational providers to open a new generation of independently run state schools."