Meole Brace School pupils celebrate their success. With head teacher Hilary Burke are pupils Joanna Colley, Jack Taylor, Libby Hosker and Fred Till.

Shropshire schools recorded their best ever GCSE results in the summer, new Government performance tables confirmed today.

Figures released by the Department for Children, Schools and Families show overall grades in Shropshire Council schools are improving year-on-year.

• See the full league table on the next page

The tables reveal 72.4 per cent of students achieved five or more A* to C passes compared to 68 per cent in 2008 while 56.6 per cent gained five or more of the top grades, including English and maths compared to 54.4 per cent in 2008.

These results place the Shropshire education area well above the national average. In 2009 nationally, 69.2 per cent of students achieved five or more top grades and 50.4 per cent of students achieved five or more A* to C grades including the benchmark English and maths.

The results for students achieving five or more A* to C grades including English and mathematics ranks Shropshire first among all West Midlands councils.

Schools where pupils students attained the highest standards included The Priory and Meole Brace in Shre- wsbury; Church Stretton; The Marches School, Oswestry; Lakelands, Ellesmere and Idsall, Shifnal.

Rhyn Park in St Martins near Oswestry; Sundorne and Belvidere in Shrewsbury; Lakelands, Ellesmere and Church Stretton were among those with the high rating on indicators that measure pupils’ progress.

Results improved in the majority of schools from 2008 but improved most at Bridgnorth Endowed; Wakeman, Shrewsbury and Sir John Talbot’s, Whitchurch.

For GCSE performance, Shropshire Council is ranked 30th among 154 education authorities.

Today’s high ratings had been expected.

A report to education watchdogs at the Shirehall last month said provisional results broadly showed “considerable improvement” over 2008, and collectively were the best ever recorded in the county.

Six of the seven key indicators were above national figures.

By Shropshire Star Education Correspondent Dave Morris