Pupils at The Ridgeway School have come out top of the class with more pupils achieving at least five A* to C grades than anywhere else in the town.

Results released by the Department for Education today show that 74 per cent of students at the school in Wroughton achieved at least five A* to C grades at GCSE or equivalent, including in English and maths, in the summer.

On average, 52.7 per cent of pupils across Swindon achieved the same results, which was below the national average of 59.4 per cent.

Steve Colledge, headteacher of The Ridgeway School, said: “We are really pleased. It has been our ambition to exceed 70 per cent so it was a fantastic year.

“The staff have worked really hard, students responded and parents have been very supportive – together that has brought the results.

“We hope now we have broken the 70 per cent barrier that will be the norm. Our aspiration is to get to the 80 per cent mark now.

“I want to congratulate the students and hope those achievements give them the life chance they deserve.”

Also performing above the national average are Commonweal School in Old Town at 60 per cent and Isambard Community School at 65 per cent.

Following closely behind are Royal Wootton Bassett Academy at 58 per cent, Churchfields Academy at 56 per cent and Lydiard Park Academy at 55 per cent.

Keith Defter, headteacher of Commonweal School, said: “We are reasonably pleased with the results. All the evidence is that the students made very good progress. The English and maths results were well above the national average.”

A total of 2,259 Swindon students received their results last August. 76.8 per cent gained at least five or more GCSEs graded A* to C (up three percentage points), while the number gaining at least five GCSEs or equivalent graded A* to C including English and maths was the same as last year.

INSPECTORS GIVE A ‘GOOD’ RATING

Despite an unexpected visit from inspectors during the first week back in class, Ridgeway School has been awarded an overall grade of good by Ofsted inspectors.

Government officials visited the school in Wroughton last September.

The school received an overall grade of outstanding after its last inspection in 2008.

Steven Colledge, who has been the head for seven years, said: “We are incredibly pleased that we were found to be a friendly, caring, safe and high achieving school. That is fantastic. It is a bit frustrating not to be outstanding.”

The inspection came during the first month of Ofsted’s new, tougher framework for inspection.

In the report, inspectors said: “The school is a very friendly and pleasant place to be – students point to this as one of its key strengths. Students feel very safe and well supported by staff.

“Students achieve well, gaining betterthan average GCSE results. “Results improved further last year, particularly in mathematics. Teaching is typically good and sometimes outstanding.

“Strengths include the way in which teachers help students to develop a secure grasp of key subject knowledge and understanding.

“Students are very positive about school and attend regularly. They typically behave very well and misbehaviour is rare.”